Concord, Mass.
1896
April 7
(No 2)
[April 7, 1896]

the strands for a space two feet long by six or eight inches
wide. It occurred to me that possibly she had spread them
out here to dry for otherwise why did she not fling them
down to the ground? Moreover she deposited them on the
sunny side of the branch. After finishing this work she
flew away with her mate. When I returned from my trip
down river later in the afternoon only one small patch
 - less than a tenth of the total material - remained on the
branch. The rest might have blown away but this is not
probable for the tree was well sheltered by the pine grove
to the eastward along the avenue and although the wind
had risen to its full strength before I left the spot in
the morning the shreds were not disturbed by it.
  My passage down river to Ball's Hill would have been
different had it not been for the stray current. The wind
opposing this raised large white-capped waves over
which the canoe tossed & plunged as if on a large lake.
I saw few birds & none of especial interest.
At the cabin my flock of Fox Sparrows had dwindled
to four birds some of which sang while I was there.
I spent the day indoors putting things in order & taking
no walk into the woods.
  The sail home in the late afternoon under double reefed
sail was most exciting. No Ducks or water birds of
any kind to-day.
  A Phoebe at North Bridge this morning flew in under
this structure and alighting on a beam sat there for a
moment quivering his wings & making a noise almost exactly
like the rattle of a Kingfisher but lower & softer. This was repeated
several times between intervals of singing.