Extreme dearth of bird life Concord
Ther [Thermometer] Tuesday, Sept. 25, 1917 [September 25, 1917] Wea [Weather]
Perfect.
Clear calm deliciously warm day
following an almost but not quite
frosty night.
  Never before have I known birds of 
almost every kind so very scarce at
this place & season. One or two Cat birds
in our dooryard, a few Chippies [Chipping Sparrow] in
the orchard, a pair of Tanagers in the
lane, a Towhee & a D. Virens [Dendroica virens] in Cedar
Park. 2 Brown Creepers near Pulpit Rock
and half a dozen noisy Crows were
literally all I noted to-day.
  The Tanagers were apparently both
adult & a mated pair presumably the
same noted on 13th & 14th. The [male] had
jet black wings & tail but no red feathers.
He kept uttering a loco. tu-re call very
like that of a young bird & precisely like
one he crouched on a branch & quivered
half open wings when the [female] approached &
fed him. This I saw several times but
could not make out what she gave him.
I saw her pick off several ripe Concord grapes
from vine on oak over our lane.
  Spent most of day with Monson &
Zeph who were working along roadway
in run. Gilbert [Robert A. Gilbert] & Henry [Henry W. Henshaw] motored to
Winchester in forenoon.
Concord - Boston - Cambridge
Ther [Thermometer] Wednesday, Sept. 26, 1917 [September 26, 1917] Wea [Weather]
Delightful.
Sunny but hazy, Absolutely windless,
warm as an average summers day.
Cicada "frying" at 2 P.M. (Cambridge).
Swamp maples ablaze in many
low-lying coverts but wholly green still
in others.
  Cambridge Garden birds. A Robin &
2 or more White-thr. Sparrows [White-throated Sparrow].
Concord Birds. A dozen or more
White-thr Sparrows [White-throated Sparrow], evidently just
arrived, in our raspberry bushes.
6 Bluebirds flying high S. [south] & I think
migrating, at 5 P.M. 2 Cat-birds
& a Tanager calling in lane.
  Henry [Henry W. Henshaw] & I took 8.06 train to
Boston. Sat with Geo. Keyes who
had much of interest to tell me
especially about German plots etc.
  Spent forenoon in office. Saw Arthur,
Galloupe, Darling, signed quarterly
cheques, bought 10 shs. [shares] Ray copper stock
@ 25 7/8 thereabouts. Took Henry to
lunch at Armstrong's. We reached
Cambridge by 2 P.M. Flowers blooming &
grapes ripening wholly untouched by frost.
Motored then to Concord 3.15-4.30
via Arlington & Burlington road.

Bought a new cow for $100 (a Jersey) both our old ones having "gone dry".