Concord, Mass.
1899.
April 9
  Cloudy most of the day with violent & very cold N.W. wind.
  Early this morning when the sun was shining brightly and
before the wind rose a number of birds were singing close
around the house. Besides the usual Robins, Bluebirds, Song Sparrows,
Phoebes, Meadow Lark, Flicker etc. I heard two Tree Sparrows
and a Junco. Later in the day I found a single Junco and
two Bluebirds in our apple orchard. I fear the past terrible
winter - especially terrible in the South - has well-nigh extirpated
the Juncos. The Fox and Song Sparrows are also exceedingly
scarce comparatively. Of the latter I am seeing tens when
there should be hundreds and the former I have thus
far seen but two. Chickadees, also, are unusually scarce and
I have yet to meet with the Rusty Blackbirds. Red wings
are common enough but my daily counts look small
indeed in comparison with three or four years at this season.
Meadow larks are also very scarce. Robins, Bluebirds, Flickers
and Crows are present in their usual numbers.
[margin]Scarcity of
Song Sparrows[/margin]
  As I was returning from the Emersons' this evening I met
Fred Hosmer. He told me that he had seen a flock of about
12 Fox Sparrows accompanied by several Juncos at White Pond
and two Fox Sparrows in another place, all this morning.
During the same walk he saw in Dugan Brook meadow near
Marshall Miles's (Nine Acre Corner) "a Plover about the size of
a Meadow Lark, with a white ring around the neck and some
conspicuous bright cinnamon brown on the back or rump. It was
noisy and shy flying from place to place, alighting on a sheet
of ice, bobbing its head up & down as it stood watching him.
When I imitated the cry of a Killdeer he said "that was the bird."
William Emerson saw a Grebe this morning over Red Bridge
[margin]Killdeer[margin]
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