13
Concord, Mass.
1897
March 31
  Clear with strong, chill N.E. wind.
  I came to Concord last evening and we settled
once more at the Keyes' in my old room - the back room
with but one window and that facing the west. The early
morning singing can seldom be heard to advantage from this
room and this morning although I was awake early I
heard nothing whatever. But when I went out after breakfast
and rambled about in the fields and orchards I heard
and saw Bluebirds, Robins, Red wings, Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows,
a Grass Finch, a Phoebe, three Cow birds, Juncos etc. There
were no Flickers or Meadow Larks. The Song and Tree Sparrows
were very numerous and their songs came at times from every
direction.
  Gilbert came at 10 A.M. and we drove down to Ball's Hill
where we put the cabin in order, and then took
a long afternoon walk in the woods which were
unusually silent and apparently nearly barren of bird life.
In Bensen's pines we heard Chickadees and at least one
Canada Nuthatch, perhaps the same bird that I left
there last November. Song Sparrows and Crows were the
only species that appeared to be at all numerous. There
was a solitary Robin, a Pewee, two Chickadees, two
Song Sparrows, and two or three Fox Sparrows in the
thickets along the river front near the cabin. We flushed
at least three Partridges & saw three Squirrels, two Reds
& one Gray. One of the Partridge, a fine large cock
flushed by Bensen's dog, rose in perfect silence & flew up
into a pine rising and perching so exactly like a
Cooper's Hawk that I mistook him for that bird[.]
We dove back to Concord late in the afternoon.