1893
April 11
(No 2)
Concord, Mass.
  During a second visit to Davis's Hill in the
afternoon I went down to the edge of a little
pond and started a Bittern which rose 20 yards or
more off from a clump of flooded bushes and
rising in a broad spiral to above the top of the
trees flew off over them instead of out over the 
meadows. Had I not made sure of the bird's
identity when it first rose I should have
taken it for a Night Heron when it was thus
soaring over the tall pines on the hill. It uttered
no sound.
[margin]First
Bittern[/margin]
  As I was rounding the E. end of Ball's Hill
on my way back I saw a perfect cloud of
Blackbirds circling over a field on the Bedford shore.
They alighted on some apple trees and then
flew down to the ground where they formed a
conspicuous black patch on the pale brown grass.
Every minute or so they would rise, whirl about
& settle again. I paddled sufficiently near to make
out through my glass that they were all Bronzed
Grackles. A rough count showed that there were over
150 birds in the flock which is by far the 
largest that I have seen these many years.
As I never see Bronzed Grackles in this locality
in summer and as the Concord colony is nothing
like so large I do not doubt that these birds were
migrants.
[margin]Immense
flock of
Bronzed
Grackles[/margin]
  I sailed most of the way home in the late
afternoon seeing nothing of interest save a pair
of Gooseanders flying high towards N. E. & doubtless migrating.
[margin]Gooseanders
migrating[/margin]