1888
April 25
Waltham, Massachusetts
Cloudless but cool with rather strong N. W. Wind.
  Off in the buggy at 9 A.M. driving to the "Warren runs"
in Waltham where I spent the morning returning at 1 P.M.
Birds were everywhere scarce and silent. During the drive
to and from Waltham I heard only a few Song Sparrows.
Saw ten or a dozen Bluebirds (all silent), a few Robins, and
a large flock (30 or more) of Juncos the latter feeding in
a stubble.
  My tramp began at the old reservoir by the roadside, led
up over the cedar-clad hill to its eastern extremity near
the Warren place and ended in and about the Warren runs
proper.
  For some-time I neither saw nor heard a bird of any kind.
The pastures about me were as brown and lifeless as in
midwinter. But near the eastern end of the ridge I heard
some Pine Linnets first, then Red Crossbills and finally a
low medly of chirps & twittering which proved to come
from a small mixed flock containing two chickadees, a
Regulus satrapa & a R. calendula, a Pine Warbler & several Pine
Linnets. There were also a pair of crows here very noisy
about their nest in the top of a slender pitch pine. I
was surprised to observe this lack of discretion on their
part.
  In three different places I found Hermit Thrushes, four
or five together, silent, tame and sluggish as usual at
this season. It is strange that they are so much less
alert and shy than their co-genus when migrating
and yet so very wary and elusive when on their
breeding grounds.
  On the sunny slope of a knoll among cedars I
came suddenly on a cluster of garter snakes so
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