304
Concord, Mass. [Massachusetts]
1897
Oct. [October] 24
  Cloudy and calm. Early morning cold, thin ice forming;
middle of day soft & warm.
  In the early morning took a walk northward.
Birds seemed to be more numerous than they have
been at any time since I came here last week.
Saw a brown Marsh Hawk, a flock of six Crows,
an exceptionally large flock of Chickadees (I could
not count them but think near at least eight or ten)
accompanied by a Brown Creeper, a Downy Woodpecker
and two Golden-crests. This flock was in the 
pines at the Glacial Hollow. They were making
so much noise that at first I suspected they had
found a little Owl but apparently they were only 
giving vent to their high spirits.
  I also saw a Hermit Thrush, a Flicker, a
Yellow-rump and two Rusty Blackbirds. The 
last named were feeding in the top of a young birch
in company with the Yellow-rump. All these birds
seemed to be getting an abundance of some kind
of insect food.
  Two men beating the meadows with a dog
fired five or six shots indirectly at Snipes. 
  Early this morning I heard a Black-bellied Plover
squealing, at first in the direction of Davis's Hill, a 
little later over Great Meadow.