8
1898
March 2
(No 2)
Cambridge & Belmont, Mass.
he fired at it but missed. A few moments later
a woman, who had come from the Payson farm house,
impelled by curiosity to find out what the Crows were
about, called to him that she had found a great
Owl and asked him to shoot it. On going to the
spot he at once saw the bird sitting erect and
looking, he says, "as big as an Eagle". It stared at
him fixedly with its yellow eyes wide open but
showed no alarm at his presence although he went
almost directly under the branch on which it was
perched. After looking at it for a moment, he
fired but missed. At his second shot the bird flew
across the paddock and alighted on the end of
a spruce limb but it was badly wounded and
soon fluttered down to the ground where it stood
erect presenting so menacing an appearance
that Malone did not dare touch it for several 
minutes. It lived two or three hours after this.
  The Payson place is going to destruction fast now.
Malone tells me that the Syndicate who bought it for
speculation purposes care nothing about the trees (which
is evident enough) and take no pains to keep out
gunners. He himself has killed twelve Gray Squirrels
three during the past year. He says that he has seen
one Partridge and several Carolina Doves there.
A Meadow Lark was singing steadily this morning
on the great lawn and in the apple orchard I
saw a pair of Chickadees inspecting & entering holes.
  There was a rosy [male] Purple Finch in our garden
through the forenoon.
[margin]Decadence of
the Payson
place.[/margin]