Concord
Ther [Thermometer] Wednesday, Sept. 19, 1917 [September 19, 1917] Wea [Weather]
84 [degrees] Perfect
Clear, windless, very warm for season
in fact a summer like day.
Little Autumn coloring as yet save
that contributed by poison ivy which
very generally is glowing with
brilliant tints. Here & there a
maple branch has turned. Golden
rod bloom about at its best now
as is also that of N.E. asters [New England aster],
A young Black Snake about 2ft.
long but no thicker than my little
finger, found by Gilbert [Robert A. Gilbert] in our house
cellar. I caught & liberated him outside.
  Not many birds. 3 Cat birds &
a Brown Thrasher were all that came
to the elder bushes where fruit is 
now well-nigh exhausted. A 
Blue Jay took a thorough bath at noon
in our basin, screaming all the while
at the top of his lungs. Several Chippies [Chipping Sparrow]
& a Song Sparrow also bathed.
Spent most of forenoon working in
flower garden with George, part of
afternoon there also. Had two woodland
walks with Timmy. He treed 2 Gray
Squirrels one of which I shot with 23 rifle.
Henry [Henry W. Henshaw] went to Fitchburg to see his men.

Concord
Ther [Thermometer] Thursday, Sept. 20, 1917 [September 20, 1917] Wea [Weather]
84 [degrees] Fox raids our poultry yard. Various
Forenoon sunny, calm, oppressively
warm & humid. Heavy thunder shower
1-3.30 P.M. After that sunny again.
  A Robin, Brown Thrasher, 3 Cat birds
& ad [adult male] Towhee eating elder berries in 
dooryard. 4 Chippies [Chipping Sparrow] bathing. A [female] Tanager,
a Grosbeak & a young [male] Towhee in mottled
garb frequenting lawn. Small flock of
Warblers in dooryard elms included
a Redstart [female] pl. [plumage] & a & a juv. [juvenile female] Usnea [Usnea Warbler].
Woodland apparently devoid of bird life
save for a Brown Creeper & sev. [several] Jays.
Crows cawing noisily about farm all day.
  Burbank reported this morning that 9
chickens had been killed last night.
Henry & I went at once to the spot. 8 birds
lay close together within a few feet of
enclosing wire fence where a hole had
been scraped in earth beneath. Tufts of
yellowish fur, Fox like in character, clung to
lower edge of wire where the creature had
pushed his way through. No one of the 9 dead
chickens showed any obvious mark of teeth
or claws. How they were killed is a mystery.
6 more are missing. I found Plymouth Rock
feathers scattered here & there along path thro
Pulpit Rock woods.
Spent much of forenoon in woods & garden.
Mrs. Melvin called. Henry [Henry W. Henshaw] motored to
Winchester to see his sister Annie.