1892.
March 17
(No.4)
Concord, Massachusetts.
[margin]Strange Owl[/margin]
Mass.
Concord.- most like a Barred Owl but surely no
bird of that species ever behaved in such a 
singular manner. I am very sure that it was
an Owl of some kind and suspect that it may
have been a Hawk Owl although I really did not 
see enough of it to make this surmise of any
value. There were always trees in the way and about
all that I could make out was that the bird
had large wings and was of a grayish color. The
flight was too slow & erratic to be that of any
kind of Hawk. Besides I am very sure that once
I saw the large Owl head as the bird turned.
My men said that it came from across the
river and passed over them within a yard
or two.
 My homeward paddle this evening was very
pleasant. There was no wind and the river
has fallen so that the current was not very
strong. As I neared Hunt's Pond I saw two
large Ducks swimming along the edge of the
ice. They rose when I was 200 yds. away and
circling to get above the trees flew off across
the meadows when I saw that they were
Gooseanders, a duck & drake, the latter in
full plumage.
 I also saw a very large Musk-rat swimming
in mid-stream.
[margin]Gooseanders[/margin]