1903.
May 27.
  Morning clear; afternoon cloudy. Strong W. wind.
  I left Concord on the morning of the 22nd &
returned on the evening of the 25th. The interim was very
cool with frosts on the low lands. The thermometer fell
to 38 degrees at the cabin on the night of the 25th.
  On the 26 I heard a male Black poll & saw a
silent Water Thrush. I had the same experience the
following day when Forbush heard a Black & Yellow Warbler.
There are northern bound migrants which have been
noted since my return.
  I was awake very early this morning. The first bird
that sang was a Cat bird who began before there were any
sign of day break even in the east. A Bittern pumped
a few minutes later. It was several minutes after this
before I heard the Robins, Vireos, Song Sparrows or
Red-wings. The chorus of Robins surprised me. Judging
by their voice I should have said there were a dozen
or more singing at once. Yet only two pairs, to my
knowledge, were nesting on Ball's Hill. Both nests were built
on the outer logs of our camps, one on the house shed,
the other close to the small west window of the old cabin.
The bird has apparently doubted the former nest which
contains four eggs. She was last seen breeding there on
the 25th. The horse was tied near the nest on the
afternoon of that day & this probably frightened the bird
away.
 The young in the other nest hatched on the 22nd. I looked
at them yesterday (24th) when they appeared to be
nearly one-third grown & were already half covered
with few feathers. At day-break this morning I