1892
Feb. 29
Concord, Massachusetts.
[margin]Ball's Hill.[/margin]
Mass.
Concord.- Cloudy and warm, the wind N. E. & light.
The river froze over again during the cold weather
of the 28th so that I went to Ball's Hill this
morning by road leaving the buggy, however, at
Peterson's and walking the remainder of the way
across country.
  In the pitch pines on Dakin's Hill I heard
birds a little way off on my right and going to
the spot found a most interesting little mixed
flock composed of eight Chickadees (the largest
number I have seen together this winter) a
pair of Downy Woodpeckers and two Red Crossbills,
[male] & [female] and presumably also a pair.
[margin]Mixed flock[/margin]
[margin]Chickadees[/margin]
  The Crossbills were at first on the ground under
a pine but afterwards kept mainly in the tops
of the trees where they worked in a rather
desultory way at the cones most of which have
now opened. They were unusually shy not permitting
me to approach nearer than about 20 yds. The [male],
a bird of mixed orange and red plumage,
kept up a low, rather unusual piping call quite
different from the usual pip. Whenever the Chickadees
moved on the Crossbills at once forsook their cones
and followed closely taking short flights from
tree to tree. I tried to separate them from the
Chickadees but failed. The Crossbills once descended
to the ground and spent spent several minutes eating
snow, hopping about on the surface of a large
drift by the side of a stone wall.
[margin]Red Crossbills[/margin]
  The Woodpeckers also kept together and followed
the flock closely. One of them spent some time
[margin]Downy
Woodpeckers[/margin]