CONCORD 
1893 
April 8 
Remarkable 
bird 
concert 
Fox 
Sparrows 
I have rarely heard anything to equal the bird singing 
that greeted my ears this morning when, at 8.30 o’clock, I 
walked down the hill to the boat landing. The air was 
perfectly still and rather damp, thus supplying the most 
favorable conditions for conveying sound and literally 
scores of birds were singing within hearing. [_Fox Sparrows, 
Tree Sparrows, Juncos and Song Sparrows were by far the 
most numerous and persistent singers but there were also 
Bluebirds, Robins, Red-wings, Rusty Blackbirds and a Grass 
Finch or two.,j 
The Fox Sparrows had quadrupled in numbers since 
last evening despite the fact that the night was stormy1 
There were fully fifty on the Buttrick farm and I found as 
many more at Ball’s Hill. At the latter place there were 
about thirty in front of the cabin where they had scratched 
away the snow and turned over the surface of the sandy 
soil over a space of several yards square where I had scat¬ 
tered a quantity of hemp seed during my last visit. I 
threw out two or three quarts more this morning and the Fox 
Sparrows stayed about all day, repaying me by many a burst 
of their superb music. In fact, they were seldom silent 
for more than a few minutes at a time. 
Sometimes a bird would perch in the oak directly 
in front of the door and send its rich notes pulsating 
through the cabin. A dozen or more birds were constantly 
engaged eating the hemp seed, rolling it between their bills 
to disengage the husk in the manner of most Finches. Others 
