4/27/ '91 (3) 
of a nest in the lower hole and the one which contained the 
bird was far too cramped for a nesting place. Tne Owl was a 
gray bird, doubtless the same individual seen during my last 
visit and probably a male, the female and nest being perhaps 
hidden in a tall rotten maple stub pierced with Colaptes 
holes and standing on the edge of a swampy woods a few rods 
from the apple tree. 
Just after we had reached the boats and embarked 
and while I was watching a Towhee (the first I have seen) 
which was scratching among the leaves at the base of the hill, 
an Osprey appeared over the meadow and plunged into the water 
after a fish which it must have missed for it reappeared 
empty-footed and fie?/ off down stream. 
We passed Ball's Hill without stopping and kept 
on up river, fighting our way slowly against an exceedingly 
rapid current. A Bittern which had been feeding on an exposed 
strip of meadow rose and, after making a long flight, dropped 
into a tangle of long grass and button bushes. I followed 
it and came suduenly on it as it stood erect, neck stretched 
up and bill pointing directly skyward. It was within twelve 
feet of me when I first saw it and shouted to Bolles and the 
impetus of the canoe carried me four or five feet nearer 
before the bird flew. I hs.d approached the place over open 
water and in full view of the Bittern. 
