May 3, 1834
At seven thirty, 53° [11.6°C]. Wind southeast hora 11. Orioles (Icterus) appeared in flights on the high, steep riverbank. We saw the yellow-headed Icterus icterocephalus, and Dreidoppel found a tree defoliated by an animal, probably a porcupine (Hystrix dorsata). Bodmer came across a rabbit. I went out and, in the dense thicket of the creek, found the white-headed finch, Fringilla or Emberiza leucophrys, which I had never seen before; Fringilla erythrophthalma and canadensis; the big lark, frequent on all prairies; the turkey buzzard; Falco sparverius; Columba carolinensis; Picus auratus; two types of troupial; and so on. I spotted muskrat [tracks] in the soft ground of the creek. The sky was very cloudy, and it rained lightly while the wind blew.
About eleven o’clock we continued on, since the wind [had] abated. We had not gone far when very strong rain reached us. After a few miles, we put in again on the left bank, where Mr. Bodmer shot a few more birds. It did not rain any more, but the wind was high. We lay fairly protected. Mr. Bodmer had shot the beautiful Sylvia [——] with yellow spots on the crown, lower back and the sides of its breast, otherwise blackish gray. We were not quite one mile above [the] Bijou Hills; we saw them [looming] in front of us, large and close in the misty atmosphere. With nightfall the storm became very severe. When it was dark, Mr. Bodmer came from the fire onto the boat and pointed out to us a large and heavy tree that hung down at an angle directly above the boat. [It] seemed to have very few roots, [and] the storm could easily topple it and smash our boat. He therefore suggested that we spend the night on land in the very heavy rain. However, I preferred the danger on the boat where we were protected [from the rain], and the tree did not topple over. The storm soon let up a little, and [then] there was a very heavy downpour.