306
Concord, Mass.
1898.
Nov. 13-23
(No 2)
of a small flight chiefly composed of Juncos and
Tree Sparrows.
  The Chickadees are comparatively scarce this autumn
and the flocks are small, rarely containing more than
five or six birds each and ordinarily not more than
three or four. Last autumn I met with many flocks
which contained ten or twelve birds each.
[margin]Chickadees
scarce & in
small flocks.[/margin]
  No irregular winter visitors have appeared as yet. I
have not seen or heard of a single Red-bellied Nuthatch
during the entire season.
  One rainy evening (that of the 19th if I remember
rightly) I was passing through some pine woods (at
the S. end of Davis's swamp) when a small Owl started
from a low branch and flew off through the trees
with irresolute, wavering flight like a big moth. The
bird looked small enough for a Saw-whet & I
think belonged to that species but in the dim 
mist-laden twilight positive identification was
impossible.
[margin]Small Owl
seen at
evening[/margin]
  For the first time in four or five years a flock of
Quail have established thrushes in my woods. Gilbert
saw them first on the [blank space] running along the river path
near the cabin & counted eight birds. The flock was
next met with by Pat on the [blank space] near the entrance to
the wood road to the green field but Pat could
count only six birds. On the 24th he started two
in the grown field and the next morning he saw
six in the birch pasture on the Barrett farm just
west of the grown field. Probably some sports man
has killed the birds from the flock since Gilbert saw it