Cambridge, Mass.
The Garden
1900
April 1-12               
  With the exception of the 3rd & 12th, which were
cloudy with light rain, the first twelve days of April
were all sunny and most of them brilliantly clear.
Although the wind held pretty steadily at W. to N.W.
the weather was rather warm for the season during the
first week the highest temperature being 60 degrees on the 2nd 
and 6th while the thermometer rose above 50 degrees on the 5th
7th & 8th. On the morning of the 9th it fell to
28 degrees and on the following morning to 26 degrees which on both
days a freezing north wind made the air chilly, even
at noon.
  I spent the above period at home scarce going
beyond the limits of our grounds within which all
the following birds were observed.
  Merula migratoria - On March 27th I heard the first
Robin of the season calling in Hubbard Park. One sang
in the evening of April 1st (F. M. Chapman tells me
that Robins began singing at Englewood, N.J., on this
same evening). The next evening I saw two birds together
in the garden and found others singing & calling
in the distance. Since then they have been constantly
present in about their normal numbers. They began
singing in the early morning on the 3rd. It is
truly delightful to hear their full, rich, brave notes
rising above the din of the streets and the dreary,
ceaseless clamor of the House Sparrows, making the
urban neighborhood sing & echo with melodious sound.
And their bright calls and cheery laughter are scarcely
less wholesome than their songs. Indeed were it not
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