Cambridge, Mass.
1903.
January
  There were many cloudy days and several very dark
& foggy ones during this month. The temperature has been variable
to an unusual degree. On the 19th it fell to 2 degrees, on the
20th & 24th to +5 degrees while on the 1st, 2nd, 12th, 16th, 17th, 21st,
27th, 28th, 29th & 30th it rose to above 40 degrees the highest point reached
being 44 degrees. Two inches of snow fell on the 11th and four inches on
the 25th. There have been a number of rain storms, some of
them rather heavy ones. A smart shower, accompanied by
thunder & lightning occurred on the morning of the 30th.
There have been a few days when the sleighing was fairly good
but the streets have been bare most of the time & the
lawns & gardens partly so with patches of ice & snow.
The grass, wherever exposed, has continued almost as green
as in mid-autumn.
  The entire winter thus far has been remarkable
for the scarcity of birds of every kind. Indeed I
cannot remember a season when they have been so very
few both in respect to species and individuals. I base
this sentiment largely on reports received from the younger
men who have been much afield in Belmont, Arlington,
Brookline, Roxbury, Billerica (C. E. Bailey) etc. My
own experience has been confined chiefly to Cambridge
where I have taken daily walks either to Mt. Auburn
or in the direction of Harvard Square & the Botanic
Garden. During the walks I have rarely seen anything
save English Sparrows & an occasional Golden-crest,
Brown Creeper, Chickadee or Crow. Our Garden also
was nearly barren of native birds until the 6th when
we put up two large lumps of suet, one in the elm
that shades the driveway, the other in the catalpa near the
Museum. This suet has since attracted Chickadees, Nuthatches
& Downy Woodpeckers & a few other birds have come with them.