88
Concord, Mass.
1898.
May 11
  Forenoon clear but hazy; afternoon cloudy with heavy
showers of fine rain, clearing again at sunset. A strong
warm S.W. wind all day.
  The work on the new cabin, now nearing completion,
required my constant supervision to-day although I
was strongly tempted to leave it to its fate for, judging
by what I saw about Ball's hill there must have been
a remarkably heavy and most interesting flight of
birds. The arrivals that I was able to note were
Golden-winged Warbler ([female] seen in birches at east end of
Ball's Hill), Baltimore Oriole (two [male] [male] singing on Ball's Hill),
Cat bird (four or five, most of them singing), Kingbird (one)
Greater Yellow-leg (heard flying over the marshes[)].
  The Solitary Vireos & the Brown Thrasher that were singing
near the cabin yesterday are gone to-day & I
saw but one White-throat. Bobolink music heard
several times, apparently across the river.
  When the wind is south Robins in considerable
numbers assemble at evening in the swamp behind
Ball's Hill. There were a dozen or more of them there
to-night. Earlier in the season they roost in
some dense white pines but of late they have been
resorting to the thickets of high bush blueberry and
Cassandra. Most of them seem to be male & they
sing freely before going to bed making a great noise.
They roost very low down - only three or four feet
above the ground.