1899. 
September 2, 1899 - Saturday . 
Heard a meadowlark sing, the first one that 
I have heard since the first of August. It was 
not so clear as the spring song, and was lower 
in the scale. I had seated myself on a box by 
a pasture fence and v/as listening to a red eyed 
vireo singing to himself when I heard it. It 
sang twice. The first time it v/as higher than 
the last and was more clearly sung. 
September 5, 1899 - Sunday. 
Went down by the pasture and seated myself on 
a box. I looked down the pasture about 15 rods 
and saw a bird fly to the ground. I watched and 
presently it flew toward me. By_its bounding, 
flight and loud joyous per-chSc-a-ree I knew it 
was a goldfinch. It v/as a male still in its 
bright colors. He lit in a be£t patch nearby, 
and I came closer to see what he was doing and 
the pretty little fellow was drinking dew drops. 
Soon* a pair of male goldfinches came bounding 
along. Just before they lit they gave a note 
like sp ^t-wh^it-v/hvL-1r . One lit on a corn 
tassel7 but the^other chased him off, then he 
went down to the dev/ drops and as he dropped I 
saw distinctly the white middle of the tail. 
When theyflew they went like this: Opening 
their wings and then closing them on each up¬ 
ward glide like this - _ / . 
when it lights it gives a turn upwards. This 
afternoon I v/ent down through the pasture. I 
v/ent nearly a quarter of a mile down to the 
river, but saw no birds. I crossed a fence and 
happening to pull the boards from a post I found 
