308
Concord, Mass.
1898
November 26
(No 2) 
out, clapped my hands & shouted, but the bird would
not dive nor did it appear to notice us in the boat for
it kept steadily on its way chiefly within the belt of
bushes through which it pursued a devious course
moving very rapidly. Once or twice it stopped and
preened its feathers or rose & flapped its wings. Had
I not had such a good view of it I should 
have doubted it being a Grebe, its behavior was so
very peculiar. It was a young bird without trace of
black on the throat.
  I spent the day at the Barrett place. Saw
nothing in the woods but a solitary Partridge
and a small flock of Chickadees.
  We have apparently exterminated the House Mice
in the cabin - after catching about a dozen - and
the White footed Mice have returned for we found
one in the traps a few days ago. We also found
a Shrew which entered a trap set on the shelf
over the fire place and baited with raw meat.
[margin]Mice &
Shrew in 
cabin[/margin]
  I have not seen a Hawk of any kind for
over two weeks and strange to say, I have not 
met with a single Shrike this autumn. Crows
are unusually scarce and there are practically
no Blue Jays.
[margin]Scarcity of
Hawks &
Shrikes[/margin]
  The Chickadees come daily to the cabin for meat but
the Downy woodpecker attacked it [sic] to-day for the
first time.