Concord.
Ther [Thermometer] Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1918 [September 17, 1918] Wea [Weather]
Fair
Thin cloudy; oppressively warm &
humid with light southerly wind.
Brief shower & distant thunder, late P.M.
  A Robin in lane; several Cat birds,
Chippies, Towhees, a Song Sparrows, a
Goldfinch & a Downy in our dooryard;
Bluebirds heard calling & a flock of
7 Starlings seen on wing; at least
15 Jays scattered all over the place
& very noisy; Crows cawing.
Only northern breeding bird is White throated
Sparrow seen in Forsythia bushes & he,
of course, may well have been the self
same as the one that summered here.
  Spent entire day out of doors. In
forenoon picked apples, in afternoon
strawberries. Also helped Burbank
put in a cement foundation to back
wall of pigeon pen to keep out rats
they having killed three of our Bantam
chickens there of late. Zeph cutting
down mulberry tree & others. George went
off on a spree last Friday & has not
yet returned.

Concord.
Ther [Thermometer] Wednesday, Sept. 18, 1918 [September 18, 1918] Wea [Weather]
Stormy.
Dark cloudy with strong, chill
N.E. [northeast] wind & almost incessant
heavy rainfall. Clouds breaking &
blue sky showing, at sunset.
  Because of bad weather I did not
get far afield all day. Near the 
house were the usual dooryard birds
- Cat birds, Towhees & a host of Chippies [Chipping Sparrow]
ceaselessly calling & flitting to & fro
save at one time in forenoon when a
[female] Sharp-shinned Hawk suddenly
appeared over field in front of house
& glided like a shadow into our larger
dooryard elm where she remained
perched erect & motionless for several
minutes evidently watching for prey
but sighting none for all the little
birds kept silent & close hid until
after her departure. Watching her thro [through]
my opera glasses & our east window I
saw plainly that she was immature.
  Worked on Museum report
when not supervising Burbank who
was sheathing lower attic wall with
thin oak. Also picked some raspberries.