1892
May 22
Concord, Massachusetts
Mass.
Concord.- Cloudy most of the day with occasional
brief gleams of sunshine and now and then
a sprinkle of raindrops.
  Spent the morning writing. At 3 P.M. took one
of my canoes and paddled up the Assabet to
"Bird's-nest" Id, landing at the hemlocks on my
way back. The river was high and rising rapidly.
I set a mark at 10 a.m. at 3 P.M. found
that the water had risen 2 inches while another
inch was added at 6 P.M. At this rate the
Great Meadows will be flooded by to-morrow.
The muskrats were somewhat disturbed I 
think for I saw two swimming directly up
stream in the middle of the river as if seeking
new quarters.
 Water Thrushes very numerous along the Assabet
chirping and flitting on ahead of my canoe as
I advanced. I counted eight different birds in
going less than half-a-mile.
[margin]Water Thrushes[/margin]
 During the past violent storm and more or less
also to-day the Yellow Warblers, Least Flycatchers,
Canadian Warblers, Warbling Vireos and a few other
small insectivorous birds have congregated in
sheltered places along the river and and resorted to
catching flies just above the surface of the water
or to picking insects from the half-submerged grass
stems perching on snags or low bushes. In 
some cases I have seen them thus engaged 
along windy, exposed shores with their plumage
drenched & bedraggled by the heavy rain. They have
evidently been hard pressed.
[margin]Yellow Warblers
Least Flycatchers
& Warbling Vireos
catching flies 
over the river[/margin]
[margin]Copy this three
times; ie for
each of the
above species[/margin]
