Concord, Mass.
1901.
October 28
(No 2)
  Within the past week or ten days the river meadows
have turned nearly uniform russet brown and the grass
(very little of which has been cut this year) has been
practically deserted by the Swamp Sparrows and Rails
which frequented it numerously earlier in the month.
The Titlarks have also dwindled in numbers until
now I see or hear only one or two straggling birds daily.
The Blackbird roost in the thicket of button bushes
just across the river has been nearly deserted within
the last few days and I no longer have the pleasant
jingling notes of the Rusty Blackbirds passing over
the Hill at morning & evening. A few Cow birds still
linger and the sad calls of Bluebirds are occasionally 
heard high in air overhead.
  Black Ducks have been unusually numerous here
this autumn. Most of those that I have seen have been
flying rather high in air and apparently migrating
but on several occasions I have observed small flocks
circling at evening over the Great Meadows where they
finally alighted in shallow pools surrounded by tall
grass. Thus far I have not seen a Duck of any kind
in the river but in the early mornings a Pied billed
Greebe frequently swims past the cabin and begins
diving in the little cove at the entrance to our boat
canal. Two of my men, who cross the river in a
boat at seven o'clock, usually drive the bird away
for the remainder of the day.
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