Ball's Hill, Concord, Mass.
1905.
April 12
  A.M. cloudy; P.M. clear. Moderate N.E. wind. A fine but rather
cool day.
  Awakening at daybreak I heard a heavy fluttering of wings
followed by a sound as of something striking the earth. Looking
out of the little windows over my bed I saw almost beneath it
and within ten feet of the cabin a hen Partridge which had
just alighted on the ground. She stood erect & motionless for a
moment and then started up the hillside moving no faster
than a domestic fowl, taking short steps and winding in and
out among the stems of the trees. I watched her until she
was out of sight. Evidently she was unaware of my presence for
she seemed entirely unconcerned.
A Partridge alights within 10 ft of the cabin.
  As I was standing motionless among the oaks on the
hillside path east of the cabins a Carolina Dove cooed very
near me. Presently I saw the bird perched on the roof of the
horse shed. It remained there for upwards of 20 minutes preening
its feathers, occasionally walking a few steps on the flat
graveled roof, now & then cooing. It seemed as much at home
there as a tame Pigeon. When it cooed it lowered its head 
to below the level of its shoulders & puffed out its chest.
It was a trim, graceful creature of eminently refined,
quiet bearing indulging in no sudden or undignified
movements or postures until it caught sight of me when
it began bobbing its head up & down and jerking its tail
in the most energetic manner. Sometimes it raised its tail
slowly very like a Hermit Thrush, sometimes it threw it up
sharply, sometimes it depressed it like a Phoebee, once or twice
it moved it sideways. These Doves are very numerous
here this spring. I saw 8 together in Birch Field on the 9th.
The solemn, measured cooing is ever in my ears as I stroll