144
Concord, Mass.
1898
June 24
  Warmer than yesterday, the air less clear and dry.
  Spent the morning near Ball's Hill, the afternoon
roaming through Mrs. Barrett's woods with Gilbert,
the evening over the Blakemore ridges and Holden's Hill.
In the Barrett woods I stumbled on an Ovenbird's
nest under some pines and a Field Sparrow's built
precisely like a Chestnut-sided Warbler's or Indigo Bird's
- that it to say it was placed in the fork of a
hazel just under the upper canopy of foliage and fully
three feet above the ground. Both nests contained four
fresh eggs each.
  On the lower side of the Barrett orchard we saw a
Great-crested Flycatcher, the first that I have met
with this year. It flew from an apple tree into the
pine woods where we drove it on ahead of us for
some distance. It was absolutely silent and very
tame, allowing us to get within a few yards. If it
has nested in the old orchard it is singular that
I have not heard it there during some one of my
visits to the Partridge's nest.
  As I was returning through Prescott's pines I came
upon a hen Partridge which ran on ahead of me
showing herself conspicuously but making no vocal sound
or other peculiar demonstration. I followed her some
distance into the bush without succeeding in flushing her
and finally decided that she must have injured
one of her wings so that she could not fly. But a
few minutes later, as I was watching a Painted Tortoise
digging a hole for its eggs, I heard young Partridges