1892                                                                                          
Feb. 2       
(No 3)
Concord, Massachusetts
[margin]Balls Hill.[/margin]
Mass.
Concord.- thin damp snow and the impressions were                
so distinct that usually not only the toes but                           
their claws as well had left a clear cast.
 Besides Rabbit tracks I saw only those of Mice
and perhaps of Shrews, also.  On a sunny
slope of Ball's Hill where there was no snow
and where the ground was covered thickly
with dry leaves a small, dark slaty Mole
or large Shrew crossed a narrow path within
six feet of me, darting across as swiftly and
quite as silently as a shadow. On going to
the spot I found that it had a tunnel
above the ground but under the leaves
which were soggy and more or less frozen
together in a mat of several inches in
thickness.  The tunnel was broken by the
foot path and in many other places was
more or less open above forming a deep
trench not quite roofed over. I see many
similar tunnels in the [?river]. Miller thinks
they are the work of Field Mice but the
animal I saw to day was certainly either
a Mole or a Shrew, I think the latter.
[margin]Moles or
Shrews[/margin]
  After cutting down some small trees (where
my hut is to stand) and burning the
brush on the river ice, I started for home
at 4 P.M. It was beginning to snow and
by the time we reached the house the
ground was quite white in the fields.
Jays were screaming on Ball's Hill this
morning & Crows cawing in the distance. 