Concord, Massachusetts.
1899.
Oct 12-31
(a) 
  I went to Concord on the afternoon of the
11th and (with the exception of the 26th and 31st when
I was at Cambridge) spent the remainder of the
month there staying at the Keyes' and visiting the
Ball's Hill region nearly every day, usually going &
returning by river. There were fewer strong winds than
usual and hence less sailing but as the weather, for
the most part, was not only calm but exceptionally
soft and beautiful I was glad, on the whole, of the
opportunities which a free use of the paddle afforded
for lingering or even stopping by the way whenever
I felt tempted to do so by an especially attractive
prospect or by the appearance of some interesting bird
or other animal.
  Not that the morning & evening trips yielded many
very profitable observations. On the contrary they as with
the days spent in the woods or at the farm, were 
singularly barren of novel experiences. This was due
partly, no doubt, to one of those mysterious runs of
ill luck which at times pursue & discourage field
observers, as well as other mortals but still more
largely, I fancy, to the extreme scarcity of the larger
birds, waders and waterfowl. Actually, the 
only Ducks seen during the month were three Anas obscura
which flew past Ball's Hill on the afternoon of the
21st and Dippers (Podilymbus podiceps) were so nearly
absent that I met with but one - in the reach
just below the red bridge on the 16th. I saw an
adult [male] Marsh Hawk on the 16th, 24th & 29th (probably
a different bird on each occasion), an immature
Red-tail (in the same place & doubtless the same bird)
[margin]Scarcity of
large birds
especially of 
Water fowl[/margin]
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