Cambridge
Ther [Thermometer] Thursday, July 23, 1914 Wea [Weather]
Stormy
Raining lightly & fitfully in forenoon,
heavily & ceaselessly in afternoon. Cool
& almost windless.
  A Red-eye [Red-eyed Vireo] sang freely & well in the 
early morning, a Robin at intervals
all day. Noted no other birds about 
the place.
  Worked all day on Great Horned Owl
story without making any progress
whatever with a paragraph begun
yesterday morning. Although it is
disheartening enough to thus waste
valuable time I force myself to 
take it philosophically as an evil
beyond my power to help. Nevertheless
I cannot help fearing that what little 
gift of writing I have ever had is
forsaking me forever. Certainly it 
was seldom present last winter.
  C. [Caroline Brewster] motored to Wellesley in the forenoon
& brought back both the dogs. Percy has
them to-night. C. read to me & we
had victrola music, this evening.
Cambridge
Ther [Thermometer] Friday, July 24, 1914 Wea [Weather]
Fine
Clear & cool with light W. [west] wind.
  Robin singing freely but rather feebly in
afternoon, Red-eye [Red-eyed Vireo] singing brokenly.
Several handsome butterfly, including a
Swallow-tailed & a Milkweed, and Dragon
Flies of two kind visited the garden to-day.
There was a solitary Firefly there to-night.
Toad tadpoles beginning to turn into tiny
Toads. Two scarce bigger than a pea had lost
their tails & were ashore this morning.
An adult female Bronzed Grackle appeared on lawn
front of house accompanied by 2 full grown young.
I noticed presently that the old bird was
pecking at something. It proved to be a dead
House Sparrow; young but fully fledged. The
Grackle first partly plucked it, precisely as a
Hawk would have done scattering wing quills
as well as body plumage over the grass. Then
it began eating it but flew off with it in its
bill when I approached. The young, also, made
several dabs at it.
  Worked all day on Gr. H. Owl [Great Horned Owl] story writing 2 pp
of freshly composed matter, seemingly, not bad stuff.
Miss Carey Peabody & Miss Casey Parsons
supped with C. [Caroline Brewster] & me on back piazza & left at 9.30.