rr.'H-w (?) 
COHCORD. 
BALL'S HILL. 
1892 
JsMtf 29 
Large flock 
of 
Goldfinches 
j^JDown to Ball’s Hill this forenoon, returning to din¬ 
ner. About midway of the lane which leads to Beneen* s we 
started an immense flock of Goldfinches from a field of 
weeds. There must have been over 100 of them. They rose 
all together in a perfect cloud and alighting in the top 
of a leafless tree completely filled it, crowding the 
branches and twigs like clusters of fruit. Returning through 
this lane an hour or two later we found the Goldfinches 
gone but startled a flock of ten or twelve Tree Sparrows 
from the weeds. I also saw here three Blue Jays and a Downy 
Woodpecker. On Ball’s Hill I flushed a Grouse from under 
a bushy oak on the summit and heard Crows cawing and Jays 
screaming. In Bunsen* s Pines I found two Chickadees. 
George (Carroll) saw a Shrike in B e nsen’s orchard, describing 
it to me afterwards very accurately. 
In the woods on the north side of Ball's Hill and 
the pines along Bunsen's ridge the ground was covered about 
two inches deep with dry powdery snow. This everywhere was 
thickly tracked on by Rabbits and Mice and a few Foxes had 
also left their footprints. 
The ice boomed at frequent intervals while I was at 
the hill. More than once I was struck by the resemblance 
of the sound — when coming from a distance — to the purg¬ 
ing of the Bittern. The river is now frozen over every¬ 
where ."1 
i 
