147
Concord, Mass.
1898.
June 26 
  A superb day rather warm at noon but with clear dry
air and a rushing W. wind that lasted later into the
moonlit night.
  Spent most of the forenoon at Mrs. Barrett's. I am
considering seriously the purchase of her whole farm
with its extensive tracts of fine woodland. Many birds
were singing about the house, among them a Towhee
which said most distinctly "Sweet-bird, sing " Miss Nichols's
version of the song as heard at Englewood. There was 
also an Indigo Bird, a Grosbeak, Yellow and Chestnut-sided
Warblers, etc.
  In the afternoon Miss Marian Keyes and Miss Gage
called and we walked to Holden's Hill. Several weeks 
ago I noticed in the large white pine that stands
at the foot of the hill on the north side a nest which
looked much like the nest of a Red Squirrel only it
was much too large. In other words it was a very
bulky and almost hopeless mass containing few if any
sticks and composed almost wholly of what looked
like the reddish inner bark of the chestnut. It was
placed close against the trunk of the tree on a stout
branch about 40 feet above the ground. The ground
beneath was thickly sprinkled with chalky white spots
of excrement evidently that of either a Hawk or an Owl
but on neither the first nor a subsequent visit 
did I see any signs of life in or about the nest.
As we approached it this afternoon however, I made
out a young bird sitting very erect in the nest. It was
covered with light grayish down and its face looked