u 
CANOE TRIP ON CONCORD RIVER,* 
To Concord with Bodies by 2.30 train. My two 
canoes with a chest containing canoe tents, cushions, etc. 
were sent by express yesterday but we found them all in one 
baggage car when we reached Concord. The expressman loaded 
them into his wagon at once and we soon had them at the 
Manse where an hour or more was consumed in getting every¬ 
thing in its proper place. Finally at about 5 P.M. we started 
up river. There was a swift current for the water was still 
high, indeed over most of the river meadows, the banks, how¬ 
ever, being out. 
The evening was delightful and birds were singing 
in great numbers on every side. At the Manse we saw a Least 
Flycatcher; on Judge Hoar’s place fully 200 Crow Blackbirds 
about the pines where they breed regularly; at the Martin 
boxes beyond the new stone bridge, seven or eight Martins 
very merry and musical. On Hurd’s Hill opposite, Meadow 
Larks and Robins were singing and a Savanna Sparrow uttering 
its lisping song. Red-wings were scattered all along the 
margin of the river, the males singing on the button bushes, 
the females flying out from the bunches of tall grass as if 
from their nests. Over the town a few Swifts were wheeling 
and dashing about. 
We made slow progress and the sun set before we 
reached the French farm. At the next bend we put up our sails 
and were wafted before the dying breeze to Nine Acre Bridge. 
■•Note: See "A Voyage to Heards Island", in The Land of the 
L ingering Snow by Frank Bolles, pp. 130-1487 ~~ ~ 
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