1886
May 10
Concord, Massachusetts.
  Morning clear, still and very warm; after-
noon cloudy with chill E. wind.
  Started down river at 9. A.M. The swift
current carried me along at a good pace
and I used nothing besides the paddle,
reaching "Ball's Hill" in about an hour. The
meadows were alive with Red wings as usual
with the addition of a single Bobolink. In the
tall white maples near "the tent" a Warbling
was singing. Yellow Warblers were heard on every
side in the black willows that overhang the
stream, and I passed a small flock of Yellow
rumps and a single water thrush. At least
three pairs of Swallows (Tachycincta bicolor) were
inspecting holes in the largest maples, where they
will doubtless breed.
  At Ball's Hill I found only a few birds,
among them a Dendroica maculosa. I had shot
only one bird on the way down, but here by hard
work I got seven. I then tramped through
the woods across the land to the river below
the great bend and picked up four or five more.
  Returning I paddled down stream around
this bend and perhaps half a mile below, where
I shot several more specimens and eat lunch
on a hillside timbered with some fine old
White pines and a mixture of hardwoods in-
cluding many hop hornbeams.
  The remainder of the afternoon was con-
sumed in rowing home, stopping frequently
by the way. I reached the house by 4. P.M.
  The Apple blossoms are beginning to fall.