1892.
March 8
Concord, Massachusetts.
[margin]Ball's Hill.[/margin]
Mass.
Concord.- Early morning clear, remainder of day
cloudy with heavy rain beginning about 4 P.M.
and lasting into the night. Wind N. E., light.
  Yesterday was a clear, warm day and the
river freed itself once more from the Manse
to Ball's Hill so that I went down to my
cabin easily & pleasantly by boat. There was
a good deal of floating ice but it was too
sodden and broken up to be at all
dangerous even to my light Rushton.
  At the Hill I saw only a few Crows flying
about, a pair of Chickadees and two Brown
Creepers (there has been only one before) but on
the way down I passed a flock of at least
five Chickadees which were feeding among the
river maples opposite Dakin's Hill.
[margin]Crows -
Creepers -[/margin]
[margin]Chickadees.[/margin]
  At 4.45 P.M. as I was about to launch my
boat from Benson's landing I happened to look
out over the Great Meadows (still an unbroken
expanse of ice) when I saw a pair of Black
Ducks nearly half a mile away coming directly
towards me. As they spied the open water in
the river they set their wings & scaled down
but rose again and passed directly over my
head within fair gun range. They next turned
to the E. and disappeared around Ball's Hill.
They came directly from the S. and, I cannot
doubt, were migrating. Curiously enough they
are the first spring birds I have seen this year
[margin]Black Ducks
arrive[/margin]
  I rowed up river in a heavy rain. As I
was landing at the Manse a Screech Owl began
wailing in the pines over the avenue
[margin]Scops.[/margin]