Concord, Massachusetts
1896
March 31
[March 31, 1896]

  Clear with strong but curiously warm north wind.
  I took the 9 A.M. train for Concord where I expect
to spend two or three weeks. On reaching the Keyes'
I found everything unchanged in that immediate
neighborhood. The snow had practically disappeared, save
for a few drifts in sheltered places, and the roads
 are dry & settled but the fields are still as brown
as in mid winter.
  There were a number of Song [Song Sparrow] & Tree Sparrows in
the woods near the greenhouse & Robins scattered about
among the trees. In the orchard I saw a pair of 
Bluebirds & heard a Nuthatch giving the wat-wat-wat
call. Grace Keyes saw another Bluebird (on Heard's Hill)
and thinks that they are much more numerous
this season than they were last year for she has seen
or heard them in many different part of the town.
  After dinner, with Pat's help, I fitted up the Stella Maris
canoe and paddled down to Great Meadows where I
took a short sail. The canoe leaked badly & the
wind was too gusty for comfort so I presently
returned. As I neared the Buttericks the wind fell
and Red-wings [Red-winged Blackbird] suddenly appeared as if by magic in
the tops of the elms & willows along the river, singing
In the orchard a low, muffled tapping attracted my
attention to a small, near & perfectly fresh Downy Wood-
pecker's [Downy Woodpecker] hole in a broken branch. The bird was inside quite
out of sight but it emerged & flew off as I came
under the tree.