Concord, Mass.
Ball's Hill.
1900
October 4
  Early morning foggy, forenoon cloudy, afternoon clear & warm
with light S.W. wind.
  When I awoke at daybreak the woods about the
cabin were shrouded in dense fog. I could hear Crows cawing,
Jays screaming, Robins calling, a Cat bird mewing and a
Screech Owl whining. Presently a bird, which I took at first
to be a Cat-bird, began singing in subdued tones very
near my window uttering a prolonged medley of choking,
stuttering & whistling notes among which I soon recognised
a feeble rendering of the spring song as well as the call notes
of Bicknell's Thrush. The next moment the bird appeared 
in an oak within a few yards & I identified him
positively as Turdus aliciae bicknelli - a small dark specimen.
He flitted about among the oaks near me for ten or fifteen
minutes frequently singing & still more frequently regaling
himself on the berries of a frost grape which he usually
took on wing, flying directly at the branches, seizing a
berry while poising for an instant on beating wings and
then alighting to swallow it. Later in the day Gilbert and I
saw him at or near this grape vine many times.
Birds about
the cabin at
daybreak.
Bicknell's 
Thrush sings
sotto voce.
  The Cat bird also appeared repeatedly at the grape vine
and several Robins joined him and shared his feast.
Cat bird
eating small
wild grapes
  The Rusty Blackbirds have established a roost this
autumn in the button bushes opposite Bensen's landing. I
heard them leave the roost this morning at about sunrise
when the fog was at its thickest. Judging by the clamor
they made as they passed the cabin there must have
been over 100 birds in the flock. They returned to the 
roost this evening in small parties between sunset and dark
a few birds arriving half an hour or more before sunset.
A roost of
Rusty Black
birds.
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