Museum, C ambr i dge, Lias s. 
May 18th, IS97. 
Dear Will: - 
I was very much pleased to get your letter, I can assure 
you. But remember you are not to feel obliged to answer my notes , for 
that was the understanding. What a picture of wood life you paint. 
19 eggs is pretty good work for even a Whistler I should say. May fish 
always come to your net. The birds arrived at your call, certainly. 
First about the garden. It never could look more beautiful. 
The glorious freshness of the delicate green pervades everything. 
The Halesia is now covered with a mass of the most exquisite white bells 
that look as if they had come from fairyland. The Iris is in flower and 
one bit of Azalea just north of the Halesia is a gorgeous piece of col¬ 
or. The Cypripedium spectabile is a little over a foot high, and I 
shall look for buds ere long. Everything is growing in the same manner 
and , if you are in a beautiful spot, be assured that we are too. 
I am adding to my bird list and I have now 65 species. The & 
other day I heard an Oven Bird singing in the woods opposite the Beaver 
BrooK Res. I tried hard to see him but didn't succeed. So this morning 
I made a special trip up there. For nearly three quarters of an hour 
did I follow the loud fleeting note. It was all around me but no bird. 
I walked softly, I crept, I sat. Occasionally a flitting shadow told 
me that the phantom was near. At last his strong clear song was very 
close. On hands and knees I crawled and soon I knew he was very near 
me. After peering about on every branch for two or three minutes, I 
spied the dear little fellow sitting motionless on a branch some fifteen 
