1892
May 6
(No.2)
Concord, Massachusetts.
Mass.
Concord. - when a young man appeared coming through
the alders with a bunch of Marsh Marigolds in his
hand. He passed without seeing me and I crossed the
brook and walked down to the edge of the old
clay pit now a pretty little pond surrounded on three
sides by alders & maples and bordered on the fourth
side by a strip of meadow literally spangled with
Marsh Marigolds in full bloom. As I paused to
admire the clusters of golden blooms and their setting
of equally beautiful foliage I saw a Water Thrush flitting
among the alders and presently a Maryland Yellow-throat
hopping about on a tussock. Then an Oven-bird uttered
its dry "tee-cha" song in the woods beyond. At my
feet lay a Wood Tortoise which I had not at first
observed. Again I looked out over the pool when
suddenly from under the high bank on the right a
silvery furrow shot out cleft by a long, slender
brown form which I at once recognised as that of
a Mink. It swam very swiftly and showed the whole
line of the back while the bushy tail trailed in
its wake apparently just touching the water on its
under side. The head looked very slender and had
a wicked, "snaky" aspect. When the animal landed
I saw for the first time that it bore in its mouth
either a Field Mouse or a Mole (S. aquaticus), I think
the former (it certainly was not a Star-nosed Mole).
On reaching dry land the Mink at once started off
at a gallop taking surprisingly long, graceful bounds,
making a great noise among the dry leaves and
carrying its head high still holding the Mouse
between its teeth. Following the line of alders it
[margin]Mink[/margin]