Middlesex Co., Mass. [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
1875.
March 22 [March 22, 1975] scarcely more developed than in the
Autumn and the stomach perfectly
empty, though the bird was in good
condition, quite fat indeed. Here I 
also shot a cedar bird (which solitary
and slow was a regaling himself on
cedar berries) and watched for some 
time a pine grosbeak. The latter
bird was also seen yesterday by R. Deane [Ruthven Deane]
but no numbers of them have been
reposted for several weeks. Keeping on
up the brook to the "Arsenal woods"
I came across a little band of chickadees
and golden crests [golden-crested wren] and was rather
surprised to hear one of the latter
sing for some time and with
considerable rigor. I have seldom heard
them sing while with us, and [delete]always[/delete] never
so early in the season as this. While
watching the sprightly little chaps a
dark shadow glanced across the path
and looking up I caught a glimpse
of a crow just disappearing among
the pines. I fired my heavy dust 
charge after him with no other effect
than the dislodgement of a vast shower of pine needles
which were cut off by the shot.
Carelessly putting in another charge
of light shot, but a few moments
elapsed until the episode was again 
repeated when suspecting that I
was in the line of a flight of these 
birds, I loaded with No. 3 and
keeping my eyes about me soon
got a fine chance and nailed