358
Concord, Massachusetts.
1897.
Dec. 16.
  Clear and rather cool with strong North wind.
  To Concord this morning by the nine o'clock train.
Sailed down to Ball's Hill in the open canoe
paddling back in the afternoon. There was a
heavy rain two days ago and the water, to-day,
was all over the meadows - quite up to the average
spring pitch, in fact. Several parties were out
in boats hunting Muskrats, with slight success, I 
fancy, for but few shots were fired. The muskrats
do not show themselves nearly so much during
the autumn floods as is the case in spring,
the sun's rays, at this season, being too feeble
to tempt them. 
  Birds were exceedingly scarce to-day. Almost the
only ones that interested me were a flock of
Crows, fully fifty in number, in a field near
the Keyes'. They must have been migrants which
had stopped to feed for a little while.
  Pat told me of seeing two flocks of Geese, lately,
passing over Ball's Hill, one of 48 birds on the 11th,
the other of 31 birds on the 13th. He [delete]says[/delete] has also
seen Robins almost daily - two this morning.