Belmont, Mass.
1903.
March 20
  Clear and uncomfortably warm with light W. wind.
Ther. rose to 76 degrees in the early part of the afternoon.
  Ralph Hoffman called yesterday to tell me of a
Carolina Wren which he had found in Belmont (near Payson
Park) and had had under constant observation for about ten 
days. The date of his first observation was March 7. Walter Dean and I went to the place this morning
at 8.30 and at once heard the bird. It sang steadily,
at intervals, during the half-hour that we spent in the
neighborhood. Its notes sounded to me like chicory-chickory-
chickory-chic. While uttering them it threw up its head and
opened its mouth very widely. Its mandible vibrated rapidly
but Walter thought they did not once come together until
the voice cease. Its favorite singing station was in the upper
branches of a large pollarded willow which grew close to
a shed. It also sang, on one occasion, in a pear tree. We
saw it emerge from an open cellar under the shed and it
flitted close about a neighboring barn. The owner of the place, 
a farmer who lives on School Street next the Hithingers (to
the southward), told us that the bird had been there 
constantly for about two weeks. Mr. Hoffman thinks that it was heard by this farmer as early as March 1.
Its loud monotonous
voice (I have never thought very highly of the song of this Wren)
sounded oddly enough amid these surroundings. Mr. Hoffman
saw a Carolina Wren in Belmont last year (in May)
near Rock Meadow but it disappeared in few days after
he discovered its presence. This School St. bird had the
upper parts of a rich reddish brown and the white stripe
on the eye very conspicuous. Its under parts were brownish
white save on the breast which was strongly flushed with
reddish. It was very tame showing, indeed, almost no
fear or suspicion when we approached it closely.