15
Concord, Mass.
1894
April 1-5
(No. 2)
  When I came here on March 31st there was snow or ice
everywhere save in deeply shaded hollows in the woods but
although the roads were dry & dusty in most places there
was no tinge of green on even the sunniest of the grassy
slopes. I noticed the first green grass on the afternoon
of the 4th on Mr. Barrett's lane and also along the
river banks where the canary grass was sending up fresh
shoots in many places. To-day many of the fields are
distinctly green.
[margin]Vegetation[/margin]
  The willow pussies in the woods and the crimson
blossoms of the river maples are in their fullest perfection
now. The hepaticas near the cabin had their flower buds
fully developed & on the very point of unfolding this
afternoon. No doubt they will be out to-morrow.
  On Saturday (April 3rd) afternoon I heard the first
frog a solitary Wood Frog which croaked doubtfully
a few times in the little pond behind Ball's Hill.
The Leopard Frogs began the next morning and at
noon their snoring rose and fell over the whole
extent of the Great Meadows although I do not think
that at any one time more than a dozen or so were
engaged in this concert.
  We heard the first Pickering's Hylas this evening (April 5)
perhaps five or six in all peeping cheerily in
the Mill Brook meadow near the Lowell R.R. crossing
- about the earliest place for them that I know
of in Concord.