3 August: We undertook a walk of several miles along the canal in the direction of Easton. On the thistles (Cnicus), the red heads of which were now in bloom, Fringilla tristis, the American goldfinch, was extremely numerous. Hummingbirds whirred around the Oenothera, with their yellow blossoms, and the beautiful, violet-flowered Asclepias. On the bank of the canal, beautiful plants bloomed: a magnificent Impatiens fulva with fiery orange-red flowers, and a splendid Sagittaria (S. hastata) with large white flowers. We shot several birds, saw the Baltimore oriole, the Alcedo alcyon, and many flycatchers, which we tried in vain to shoot, on the Oenothera. We returned in the heat and on one of the islands, close to our path, found dense patches of Asclepias syriaca, above which a Trochilus colubris was flying. Here there was tall, shady timber, where I shot a beautiful Muscicapa ruticilla with black and orange colors. Dr. Saynisch had found several nests of Icterus baltimore on this island. In the puddles of this wild island one sees the bullfrog, but I have not yet caught any.

Today, to be sure, our evening walk took us up along the canal, and also to a nearby mountain, where we shot some most interesting birds, including the Icterus baltimore, with its magnificently fiery color, as well as the Fringilla tristis, Muscicapa ruticilla, and Sylvia sialis (bluebird). We also saw the blue finch and again shot without success at a Trochilus colubris.