31 July: In the morning after breakfast, I went on a hunting excursion myself. Between fences I went to the not-far-distant woods of oak, varieties of walnut trees, chestnuts, beeches, sassafras, Cornus florida, sweet gum (Laurus benzoin), etc. I discovered a bluebird (Sylvia sialis) family that had just left the nest, a similar one of the Picus erythrocephalus, and bagged several interesting birds, among others also the beautiful gamboge yellow finch (goldfinch, Fringilla tristis), the kingbird, and others, which are all depicted in Wilson's Ornithology.[Page 1:52] The woods through which I stalked all had tall oaks, walnut, and chestnut trees, also beeches here and there, but nowhere did I see young timber or understory in them. In the American woods, people do not observe sound forest management practices as we do. They cut down the largest trees, and some people already maintain that forests are diminishing annually in Pennsylvania to an extraordinary degree. In this state so far, I have mostly seen forestland completely clear on the ground. Woodpeckers are very numerous in these forests, particularly erythrocephalus. Today I also saw a family of another variety of woodpecker, which had just left the nest. Throughout the forests and fields, the farmers’ properties are separated by wooden fences. On them one constantly sees chipmunks, as well as the reddish common squirrel, and I shot at various ones, which escaped, however, since I was not properly supplied with lead. A hummingbird whirred around an isolated oak standing in a field by a corn patch, but it was too wary and could not be killed. Dreidoppel had caught an Emys punctata in a small ditch, and this kept me well occupied during the day.