Concord, Mass.
Ball's Hill
1900
October 2
  Forenoon cloudy; afternoon brilliantly clear with E. wind.
  Took 1.47 P.M. train for Concord where I expect
to pass most of the remainder of this month. There was
almost no autumn coloring between Cambridge & Lexington
and the deciduous trees standing on high ground presented
a sad appearance the foliage being withered as if scortched
by fire. Some of the oak woods were uniformly of a 
pale grayish color. This is the effect of the drought
which is the most severe I have ever known.
I settle at 
the cabin
  Beyond Lexington there was some brilliant coloring
in the maple swamps & I saw fewer of the withered
trees. The Ball's Hill woods were the most brilliantly
colored of all and such of the leaves as had not turned
were perfectly green & fresh. I cannot understand this.
  As we were walking down to the river I took a walk to the
Barrett meadow & later crossed the swamp behind the
hill, seeing an Oven bird, a Water Thrush, three Blackpoll
Warblers, a Partridge & a Blue-winged Teal. The last
was flying swiftly up river over the Beaver Dam Rapid.
I also saw a Black-billed cuckoo.
Blue wing Teal
Black-billed
Cuckoo
October 3
  Cloudy, calm, mild.
  Birds appeared to be scarcer today. Gilbert saw a Black-
billed Cuckoo & heard Ducks thrashing the water near the cabin.
They made a prodigious noise in the still night.
Black-bill
Cuckoo
Quail.
Ducks in
the river
at night
98