292
Concord, Mass.
1898.
November 4
  Weather if possible more perfect than that of yesterday,
the sky without a cloud, scarce a breath of wind, the
air as soft and warm as in September, the sunshine 
rich and golden.
  Chadbourne and I spent the whole forenoon in 
the woods. The country was alive with small birds
chiefly Sparrows of which a heavy flight must
have arrived from the N. last night. We saw
at least twenty Tree Sparrows and about the
same number of Fox sparrows and heard both
species in full song. Juncos were also very numerous.
  At sunrise this morning two Carolina Grebes &
a Whistler were swimming in the river opposite
the cabin and a little earlier Gilbert saw two
Ducks of some kind flying past up river.
  At about 8 A.M. Chadbourne & I discovered
three Canada Geese floating on the river a little
below Birch Island. We saw them first from
Davis's Hill. Making a circuit through the woods
we approached them from behind Birch Island.
but they had swum further down stream & close
to the eastern shore. Presently two of them entered
the grass & began feeding [,] the third bird, a very
large gander, keeping watch, floating on the open
water with head & neck erect. When we showed
ourselves all these birds drew together & swam
out but we did not hear any alarm note
[margin]Canada Geese
in the river [/margin]