Lexington, Mass.
1916
January 6
(No 2)
[January 6, 1916]

My first view of living Evening Grosbeaks

  Walter and I left home at 8.30 this morning and
went to Lexington by trolley cars. Leaving the car near
Monroe station we took a street that leads to the left up
a steep hill side dotted rather plentifully, but nowhere
thickly, with suburban houses of well-to-do people, surrounded
by ornamental grounds planted with cultivated trees and shrubs. There
were also very many red cedars and pitch pines which
had been left standing where they must have been found
when the hill-side was first settled, for they are much
older than any of the houses. These primitive growths
increased in frequency and extent as we climbed upward
until over the crest of the ridge they dominated the
landscape although even here it was not devoid 
of dwelling houses scattered about and half hidden
among evergreen trees, with every now and then 
a stretch of open pasture or mowing field.