1892.
Aug. 4
Concord, Massachusetts.
Mass.
Concord.- A typical midsummer day, clear, rather too hot
for comfort away from the influence of the strong S.W. wind
[margin]To Ball's Hill.[/margin]

  My man George came from Cambridge this morning
and we went to Ball's Hill for the day driving down and
back. We spent most of our time clearing out my woodland
path which had become choked in places by this season's
growth of shrubs and ferns. I heard almost no birds
singing, a Chippy at Bensen's and a Short-billed Marsh
Wren across the river being actually all that I remember.

[margin][Begin[/margin]
  Nevertheless I had an interesting experience. [bracketing mark] Early in the
afternoon a Wasp about three quarters of an inch long, slender
of build even for its kind, in color grayish-brown with
steel blue reflections on the wings, two yellow bands encircling
the abdómen and some obscure yellowish about the head,
appeared on the outside of the wire door of my cabin moving
backwards and downward and dragging after it a spider
apparently dead but doubtless only numbed by its sting
and fully twice as heavy as itself. On reaching the
ground it at once started across my little lawn still
moving backwards, sometimes among the stems of the grasses
often climbing on their tops. Its progress was wonderfully
rapid considering the burden it bore and every movement
was characterized by impatience at the obstacles in its path
and a burning desire to get ahead still faster. When within
a couple of feet of the lower edge of the grass it dropped
the spider and flew to the sandy space below where
it entered a hole scarce larger than a lead pencil. Presently
it emerged and began digging the hole out larger, using
only the forward pair of legs and throwing the sand backwards
[margin]Wasp and
Spider[/margin]