1875. 
(Nov. 3) 
Dee. 2. 
* 16. 
1876. 
Peb. 15. 
Mar. 7 
General Observations. 
Middlesex County, Mass. 
A great rush of northern birds this morning. The 
weather up to within three days has been very mild. Nov¬ 
ember 1, however, a sudden change took place §.nd since 
then the thermometer has not reached above 35 , and snow 
in greater or less quantities is reported at various 
points in northers New England. The deciduous woods 
are now nearly bare but I was surprised to find many 
green things untouched by the frost under the shelter 
of evergreens. On the cedar ridge in Watertown, espec¬ 
ially in its warmer nooks, many clumps of bushes and 
vines were as green as ig September and the sensation 
upon entering them from the bleak hillsides behind was 
not unlike that of entering a green house in winter. 
At noon to-day the thermometer rose to about 40*^ and I 
found an abundance of insect life crawling about in shel¬ 
tered places. Dipter a were most numerous but I also 
heard the faint notes of a fev/ grasshoppers and saw two 
or three of the common yellow field butterflies flying 
about. A curious sight was that of a pair of red-wing- 
eed dragon flies hovering to-gether over a pool eas^d 
encased in ice. 
Hespe romys leucoous . In the Pine Swamp my setter 
started one from a bunch of grass; it scrambled hurried¬ 
ly across a broad patch of smooth ice, and sought shel¬ 
ter in a hole on the other side. It was in brown pel- 
age. 
Rana pi p ie n s. A number sitting along the muddy 
edge of Alewife Brook with all but their heads under wa¬ 
ter. They seemed as active as in summer. Several 
were of large size. This brook is kept open all winter 
by the sov/erage matter discharged into it. 
The v/inter thus far has been remarkably mild and 
with the exception of three days fair sieighing the 
ground has been entirely bare most of the time. Birds 
of all kinds have been unusually scarce; the only ir¬ 
regular visitors from the north ar© Pine Grosbeaks and 
Red-Polls. None of the latter have boon seen since 
November • Our regular-winter residents have all been 
present in small numbers. 
Clear and exceedingly warm with south wind; ther¬ 
mometer 700. The hry leaves in the woods were rustlin? 
every whore with myriaRds of minute creatures crawling 
through them. Black little Coleoptera and shining 
Hiptera of various colors and forms, all out basking in 
the warm sunshine. There was a sudden and unusually 
heavy rush of spring birds. Bluebirds and three species 
of Blackbirds appearing in unusual numbers. The sudden 
advent of a spring day, after the dreary, lifeless win¬ 
ter is no less a surprise than a delight, hov^ever much 
it may have been looked forward to. The air was full 
