May 11, 1834
Pleasant morning; sky slightly cloudy; a little cool. North wind. At seven thirty, 57°F [13.9°C]. We stopped on the left bank for a quarter of an hour. In the almost impenetrable new [growth] of the dense willow thicket [there] were many interesting birds—the rust-colored thrush, the multivoiced Icteria viridis, with its magnificent lemon-yellow throat, the beautiful Muscicapa ruticilla, Sylvia aestiva, and others. Dreidoppel shot a species of rabbit that seems to be different from that [found] in the eastern states, in that its ears are much shorter and wider. We saw an extraordinary number of wood ducks (canard branchu). Pairs of the beautiful white Falco furcatus (which we had seen yesterday) glided above the high forest. Near St. Louis this bird is called la fregate [frigate], and it is said not to be seen higher upstream on the Mississippi. At noon we had much wind; we moored on the right side at a high bank with a willow thicket. Farther inland in this thicket [there were] large round [clearings] with burned ground and new, fresh grass. In many places within the willow thicket there was a dense underbrush of Lonicera or Symphoria, Cornus, and the like where Icteria viridis [were] hidden. The magnificent Baltimore bird flew around in pairs; Sylvia aestiva [was] very numerous; the olive-gray flycatcher was very common. On the open meadow areas we found red-eyed finches (Fringilla erythrophthalma) in pairs, and pelicans [were] on the river. Dauphin [came] back from his hunting excursion with rabbits [he had] shot in the early morning. One of [the rabbits] was carrying six unborn babies. In the neighboring forest, even in the polelike thicket of the willows, the ground was overgrown completely and densely with two- to three-foot-high rushes (Equisetum hyemale), [each] as thick as a finger. At about four thirty we departed. We [passed] a few areas in the river with snags and then reached a stretch where the left riverbank was steeply sloped. Two game animals crossed the river here and tried to climb the height. But they fell back with every attempt, as we came closer [and closer] to them. Four to five shots were fired at the frightened animals, but [we] missed. The game ran along the riverbank and finally got away. Everywhere in the inlets [along] the bank, numerous pairs of wood ducks flew up. This duck is the most common on the Missouri. Often they sat in the forest on the bank, since they nest in trees and flew up from there. Sandpipers (Tringa and also some Charadrius) were seen in numbers on the sandbars. The high forest consisted of cottonwoods (Populus angulata). The evening was pleasant. About six o’clock we reached the Soldier River and landed in a secure bay on the left side, below a high bank with an extensive willow thicket. Almost immediately Dreidoppel shot another one of the aforementioned rabbits. The red thrush, [the] yellow-breasted Icteria, and a Caprimulgus were seen.