the Ipswich River. The object of the meeting was to listen 
to the drumming of the Snipe and, if possible,, observe the 
birds in this aerial performance. The men composed them¬ 
selves, and there was as much silence as the different dispo¬ 
sitions of the group would allow. There were never more 
than five men talking at once. 
The sun had long since set and night was drawing its 
curtain across the afterglow and in the swamp the thrushes, 
song sparrows and other birds were singing to the passing 
day. Down the road a large dog pointed his nose to heaven 
and tried to break all long-distance records for uproarious 
vocalization. Different sounds, both wild and tame, were 
identified and commented upon, until there came a lull; even 
the talkative members of the party were silent, and then 
from above was heard a sound similar to that made by the 
air rushing through the wings of a domestic pigeon. The 
Snipe had arrived and everything else was forgotten. Dur¬ 
ing the next half-hour the air was filled with the drumming 
of the Snipe and the conjectures of the party. The dark¬ 
ness made it impossible to catch but fleeting glimpses of 
the birds as they darted downward from the sky or flut¬ 
tered to the ground. No one was able to see how the sound 
was made, but everyone heard it and caught an occasional 
quick view of the birds. Some saw one bird, others saw 
more, and one man went so far as to declare he saw five 
Snipe, thereby drawing on himself sundry observations more 
pointed than scientific. Taking it all in all, the trip was a 
success, inasmuch as the birds were located, seen and heard. 
A. B. Fowler. 
NOTES FROM A BIT OF WATERFRONT, 1922. 
The point of made land, on the Lynn side of the mouth 
of Saugus River, has become covered by a growth of weeds 
and grass. This growth was first tenanted by the Savannah 
Sparrows, lovers of sandy ground near salt water. During 
the summer of 1922,1 several times put up from this weedy 
waste two or more Prairie Horned Larks, judging from 
plumage, an old pair and their young. An amusing feature 
56 
