1892
Jan. 30
Concord, Massachusetts.
[margin]"Damsdale."[/margin]
Mass.
Concord.- Morning cloudy with strong N. E. wind and
snow which came fitfully, in driving gusts and ceased
wholly by 11 a.m. shortly after which the clouds began
to break disclosing patches of blue sky and allowing the
sun to peep out for brief intervals.
  Before the snow had quite ceased falling I started
for the Damsdale following the Estabrook road. There
was perhaps an inch of new snow, firm & powdery, but
it had blown off many places in the road and in
the fields the tips of the grass blades rising through &
above it gave the surface a decided tinge of pale
straw color.
[margin]Damsdale
woods.[/margin]
  Near the entrance of Derby's lane I came upon three
Chickadees accompanied by a Golden crest, the first I
have seen this month. I also started a very large
adult Red-tailed Hawk from the top of an apple tree
in the meadow opposite.
[margin]Chickadees &
Golden crest[/margin]
[margin]B. borealis[/margin]
  Following the brook up through the Damsdale meadow
I looked closely among the tussocks & bushes for tracks
of small mammals. In two places I found the fresh
trail of a mouse leading from one bunch of grass to
the next, six or eight feet across open snow, thus
proving that these animals expose themselves to some
extent by day. There were no other tracks of any kind.
Turning back and climbing the slight ridge to the South
I found on the sheltered edge of the woods a merry party
of Tree Sparrows, 24 in number and with them one
Junco. They were finding among some weeds. Every now & then
the musical tweedle, tweedle call would start and run
through the flock. They had covered the fresh snow with
braided trails the foot prints in pairs or one slightly
in advance thus: [diagram] or [giagram]. A Downy W[oodpecker] near there in a
wild cherry.
[margin]Field Mice
diurnal[/margin]
[margin]Junco
Tree Sparrows[/margin]
[margin]Foot prints[/margin]