1892.
Dec. 28
Mass.
Concord.   Cloudless with brilliantly clear air and sparkling sun-
shine, the early morning cold but the middle of the day very
pleasant.
  Took the 10.16 a.m. train for West Bedford, George Carroll
accompanying me. The Concord proved perfectly safe to cross (the
ice opposite Ball's Hill was everywhere five or six inches in
thickness) and a walk of less than ten minutes brought us to my
cabin where we found everything safe and as I left it. There
were a few skaters on the river and a party of three men from
Arlington had lines set but their recompense was small - only two
pickerel and the same number of perch for a day's fishing.
  After dinner I walked to Benson's and through my woods in
various directions. Saw two Chickadees, a Brown Creeper, several
Crows, two or three Jays and a Partridge. The last a fine cock
bird, rose from a briery thicket on the eastern edge of my swamp
and mounted straight upward before he could clear the brush and
start on his usual level flight, giving me a fine view and an
easy shot had I been armed and seeking his life.
  We had a glorious fire in the cabin all day and left it with
some reluctance in time to take the 6.04 p.m. train for home.
I saw a few Rabbit tracks in the snow behind the hill and perhaps
a fox track also.