Thoreau writes in his journal:
8 P.M.—Now at least the moon is full, and I walk alone, which is best by night, if not by day always . . . I see a skunk on Bear Garden Hill stealing noiselessly away from me, while the moon shines over the pitch pines, which send long shadows down the hill . . . At the foot of the Cliff hill I hear the sound of the clock striking nine, as distinctly as within a quarter of a mile usually, though there is no wind . . . As I return through the orchard, a foolish robin bursts away from his perch unnaturally, with the habits of man.
Thoreau writes in his journal on 13 July:
Observed yesterday, while surveying near [Charles?] Gordon’s, a bittern flying over near Gordon’s, with moderate flight and outstretched neck, its breastbone sticking out sharp like the bone in the throats of some persons, its anatomy exposed.
