
Cambridge
Ther [Thermometer] Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1917 [February 7, 1917] Wea [Weather]
Miss Maynard Butler's call. Fair
Light cloudy, calm, mild.
Garden birds, A White-throated Sparrow &
about 15 House Sparrows eating millet; 3
Jays together & afterwards 2 more (?);
a Crow & a Downy W. [Downy Woodpecker] heard.
  The Peabody bird was either a new comer
or else our wintering bird recently stained with
something, perhaps coal dust. For his entire throat
& chest were so dark-colored as to appear
almost black. The head stripes, also, were
much obscured the plumage elsewhere perhaps
duller than usual yet scarce more so than in
immature specimens.
  An interrupted day productive of little
save a few letters & three pages of notes
relating to the Shrike seen on Jan 22 [January 22, 1917].
  Mrs. Sawyer, Mary Greenough and
Alice Stone our guests at luncheon. Not
long after it Miss Maynard Butler
called by appointment to seek my advise
about field study of birds in which she
professes some interest. I talked with her
above an hour chiefly about Germany
where she has lived for years. She knows
the Kaiser personally & has given me an
extraordinary account of him. Miss Mable Cook
with whom I talked by telephone this morning, considers Miss Maynard perfectly
trustworthy of statement & has had her for a guest at Lexington. She further reported
Evening Grosbeaks: a flock
of 50 seen Miss Cook's house at
Lexington about a week ago.

Cambridge.
Ther [Thermometer] Thursday, Feb. 8, 1917 [February 8, 1917] Wea [Weather]
Umbagog task resumed. Fair
Partly sunny, mostly cloudy. Mild. Only
a little wind. Good sleighing still. No bare
ground showing anywhere.
  Garden birds. Only a few about. Saw
a Jay & ten or a dozen House sparrows, 
Heard a Crow cawing and a White-throat
Sparrow [White-throated Sparrow] chirping.
  Gray Squirrels out again in full force
for the past week or more. Saw two
males engaged in pursuit of a female
several days ago. With evident amorous
desire they followed her hither & thither
all over the place, keeping mostly in trees.
She often permitted them to overtake her
but then repelled all their attempts to
mate with her by merely coquettish behavior.
They seemed to take this coyness as a matter
of course & showed no more than friendly
rivalry towards each other.
  Resumed work on "Umbagog" this
forenoon & wrote almost three pages about
the Bobolink before sundown. It is good
to be back at this long neglected task
again.
  Mrs. Cobb & Lizzy F. [Eliza W. Fuller] at luncheon. E.R.S. [Elizabeth R. Simmons]
down stairs again.