Middlesex Co., Mass. [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
1875
Feb. 24 [February 24, 1875] The last week has been warm and pleasant
and the snow and ice are going rapidly.
In fact the "backbone of winter" seems
to be "broken" at last. Cedar birds are
seen nearly every day but are not very
numerous. Feb. 19th [February 19, 1875] I saw an immature
Podiceps Hollbolli [Podiceps holbolli] in Goodale's's which
had been captured alive on the ice in
the harbor. Feb. 22 [February 22, 1875] saw a fine adult
(or nearly so) Collurio borealis at Mt. Auburn.

[February] 26 [February 26, 1875] Alternately cloudy and clear with a
violent N.W. [northwest] wind. Ther. [Thermometer] 26 [degrees] at sunrise.
The snow and ice have almost entirely
disappeared and the fields are brown and
bare again. Started off for a tramp
this morning taking favourite winter
range, "the farm" etc. Found birds
very scarce in fact saw hardly anything
except the most characteristic species.
Had one little adventure however worthy
of note. The brook below the cedar ridge
had overflowed its banks to such an extent
that the whole picturesque little valley
through which it flows was converted into a
miniature lake, many of the willows
and other trees standing in water five
or six feet deep. While creeping along
the edge of this little lake in the faint
hope of surprising a sheldrake or
golden eye in some of the many little
nooks formed by the clumps of bushes
and irregularities of the shore, my
attention was attracted by a black object