41
Concord, Mass.
1898.
April 3
  Clear and cold with strong N.W. wind.
  The sun rose over a wintery landscape this morning
for more than two inches of snow had fallen during
the night loading down the branches of the trees and
bushes and covering the entire face of the country
with an unbroken mantle of dazzling white. Despite
the strong April sun the ground did not appear
during the day excepting on southern exposures.
  Watson and I were out the entire forenoon tramping
through the snow over my my entire extent of woodland
examining numberless trees and shrubs but seeing
very few birds. We started only one Partridge, a
large cock bird in the Blakemore pines. On
the south side of Holden's Hill in dense oak
& chestnut woods we came upon a female Bluebird
flitting from branch to branch like a Hermit Thrush.
Saw one flock of twelve Robins and a Red shouldered
Hawk. In the afternoon Gilbert saw a flock of
eight Black Ducks flying over Bensen's house & as
I was standing in front of the cabin two passed
on their way up river.
  The Sparrows and Juncos were at the seed bed
early this morning in the same respective numbers as
during the past three days. But while we were
absent in the forenoon something killed and plucked
a Junco directly in front of the cabin door. The
remaining birds did not return during the afternoon
although we saw them along the river path.