Concord, Mass.
1896
October 30
  Clear and warm with little or no wind. Later in
the day clouds gathered & a little rain fell.
  To Ball's Hill by canoe as usual spending most
of the day cutting down trees at the southern end
of Davis's Hill on the crest of which I saw four
Gray Squirrels at one time. Later in the afternoon
I saw out west three more on Holden's Hill.
  Along the river Tree Sparrows have been very numerous
these last few days but the Song and Swamp
Sparrows disappeared very suddenly & completely about
five or six days ago. There are still a few Titlarks
and I heard Horned Larks piping this morning near
[?]'s field. The lame gunner was on the
meadows as usual both yesterday and today but
he fired only a few shots. On the 27th I saw him
kill three Snipe, two by a handsome double shot.
He also got a Hooded Merganser on the 27th or
28th. I saw it at Davis's Hill on the 29th - a
young bird badly mangled by the shot & by the
dog's teeth.
   I have heard no Bluebirds since the 25th and
Will Bartlett reports observing the last on that date.