Concord, Mass.
1896
October 23
  Early morning clear and cold but the temperature rose
and the sky clouded over very quickly and by 10 A.M.
it began raining. There was only a brief shower but
the remainder of the day was gloomy & thundering.
  I spent the day at Ball's Hill as usual, working
with Pat on the Blakemore Ridge where we cut
down a great number of oaks, birches etc. that
were choking some promising young pines. Despite
the gloomy weather & high south wind I saw a
good many small birds in the woods, among them
several Hermits. In the early morning as I was
paddling down river the still air was full of
bird voices bids, Rusty Black birds, Crows,
Jays, etc. At "the tent" I found about thirty
small birds, mostly Sparrows, flitting about in a
thicket of Black alders. There was a Hermit Thrush
with them. The Sparrows were Song, Fox (only one),
Chippies, Tree, Savanna (one), and White throats.
One of the Tree Sparrows sang at short, regular
intervals for ten or fifteen minutes. He was evidently
an old bird and I have never heard one sing louder,
fuller or sweeter in March or April. The Fox Sparrow
also sang a little but sotto voce over and several of
the Song Sparrows were chanting in low, broken
tones.
  It was getting dark when I started for home this
evening. A duck which I took to be a drake Wood
Duck passed me just above the Holt flying up river.
The Screech Owl was wailing near the time but I did not
see him. At a distance he sounded like a horse whinnying.