Cambridge
Ther [Thermometer] Tuesday, Jan. 30, 1917 [January 30, 1917] Wea [Weather]
Fine
  Brilliantly clear with light westerly
wind and the warmest air we have 
had for many a day, melting both
snow & ice & spoiling the hitherto
excellent sleighing but not as yet exposing
much wholly bare ground.
Garden birds: A White-throated Sparrow
& 15 or 20 House Sparrows. I had thought
that the mild & serene weather might
bring more than these but no others
could be seen or heard.
  A letter begun yesterday was not
finished until after sunset to-day &
will not be mailed before tomorrow
morning. Addressed the Cambridge
Assessors it relates to my Museum. 
This, as I have explained, has always
been made to serve largely, if indirectly
for educational purposes & the advancement
of scientific knowledge - therefor escaping
taxation presumably for that reason. Under
a recent law it may be subject to such
a burden. I have asked the Assessor to
rule upon this & let me know.

Cambridge.
Ther [Thermometer] Wednesday, Jan. 31, 1917 [January 31, 1917] Wea [Weather]
Dull.
Gloomily cloudy & disagreeably chilly
yet neither cold nor windy, has been
this mid-winter day. An inch or two
of damp snow, falling after dark, has
replaced most of that melted yesterday.
  Garden birds continue scarce or 
altogether wanting. A Chickadee at suet
by my window, a White-throat [White-throated Sparrow] in
vines near it and a few House Sparrows
about the clothes yard, were all I
noticed.
  Devoted entire day to writing letters
yet many remain unanswered. They
have flowed in on me most
discouragingly of late.
  The February Victor records are very
disappointing. I sent back to-day all but
one of seven or eight sent out from
Steinerts' on Monday. Those rejected
include a Gluck, Gluck-Reimer, a
Culp & a Gorgorza, all alike undesirable.
A Pablo-Cassals [Pablo Casals] one from Columbia I accepted.