303
Concord, Mass.
1897
Oct. 23
  Cloudless and nearly dead calm. Although it was
cold last night (there was a heavy white frost at sunrise
this morning and I saw a skimming of ice on a
ditch at 9 a.m.) the middle of the day was deliciously
warm and Dragon flies were out in great numbers.
The air was so still that comparatively slight sounds
could be heard at incredible distances. The woods
seemed to be everywhere alive with Squirrels & Mice
rustling among the dry leaves, the thickets with
Sparrows scratching & calling to one another. In
fact it was a day of sounds - a day when the
ear noted far more that the eye.
  At sunrise a Robin was calling in the oaks
over the cabin & as we were eating breakfast
a little company of Sparrows including two Song
Sparrows, two White-throats & a Savanna (the
first I have ever seen here) were feeding on some
hemp seed which I had thrown out in front
of our door. Later in the day I saw a Fox
& a Tree Sparrow, both single birds. I also
saw three Hermit Thrushes & I heard Horned Larks
piping over the Great Meadows. Two Blackbirds
passed over Ball's Hill at 8 A.M. flying down
south at a great height & apparently migrating.
  In the forenoon I walked to Holden's Hill;
in the afternoon I spent several hours in
the woods behind Ball's Hill laying out
a path & cutting down some worthless trees.
  Chipmunks appear to be very scarce this autumn.
I saw my first to-day.