Concord River: Selections from the Journals of William Brewster [Reprint 2013 ed.] 9780674734197, 9780674730328

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Concord River

LONDON: H U M P H R E Y MILFORD O X F O R D UNIVERSITY PRESS

Wood Duck

Concord River Selecttons from the yournals of WILLIAM

BREWSTER

EDITED BY SMITH O. DEXTER

ILLUSTRATED BY FRANK W. BENSON

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

H A R V A R D U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS 1937

COPYRIGHT,

1937

B Y T H E PRESIDENT AND F E L L O W S O F HARVARD COLLEGE

A L L RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING T H E RIGHT TO REPRODUCE THIS BOOK GR ANY P A R T T H E R E O F IN ANY F O R M

PRINTED A T T H E HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U . S . A .

Foreword A F T E R the death of William Brewster in 1919 his great coll \ . lections, his manuscripts, diaries, and field notes came to the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College. Some of the notes on the birds of Lake Umbagog were published in the Museum Bulletin; but the material was fragmentary and the series may never be completed. The requests for these notes that are still Coming in and the complaints that there are not more of them make us ever mindful of Brewster's continuing fame as an ornithologist and of the unique appeal of his writing. In "October Farm," of which "Concord River" is in a sense a sequel, the story is told of the part played by the Reverend Smith Owen Dexter in selecting excerpts from Brewster's Concord diary. Mr. Dexter died before the task was finished, and the extracts lay about for some time before I was able to offer them for publication. A portion of them was published late in 1936, and through "October Farm" Brewster became known to a widening circle. The first edition was soon exhausted and a second appeared. It is quite evident that we should have published two volumes of diary to Start with — perhaps even more. The excerpts in the present book are indistinguishable in quality from those that have already appeared. Brewster always wrote with superb simplicity and utter selflessness, and curiously enough the ultimate result was the same whether he dashed off an entry late at night or whether, as in the introduction to his "Birds of the Cambridge Region," he wrote and recast a passage times without number until he himself was completely satisfied. I had often thought of this curious fact, and only yesterday in N e w York, Brewster's old friend Frank Chapman independently made exactly the same Observation.

Foreword My own feeling is that, as a master of simple, dignified English prose, Brewster is most directly comparable with Hawthorne. His style has been compared to that of Thoreau, but spiritually the two men were in no wise akin. Brewster was never, even unconsciously, sententious, nor was his style ever stüted. Thoreau's ego was always near the surface, and he was a real reformer, always crusading. The phrase, "passive resistance," which he gave the World was the truest expression of his constant thought and preoccupations. Brewster was utterly impersonal, and he wrote with no "mission" in mind but simply because he had a warm, irrepressible urge to observe nature and to set forth what he had seen but not what he thought about it. Thoreau is obvious in everything he has written. Brewster is the modest and peerless recorder. After Brewster's death it was Chapman's idea to raise a fund and to give a Brewster medal from time to time for sound ornithological books, and naturally enough his old friend Daniel Chester French was asked to model it. The loving care which went into the work is revealed in the long letters French wrote about his difficulties in trying to make something which he feit would satisfy Brewster, as well as himself. The task was completed, and a little later he wrote the excellent appreciation of Brewster which appears as a preface to "October Farm." French wrote me when the medals were finished that he wanted to give away two of them immediately, one to Mrs. Brewster and one to Frank W . Benson, who had helped him with details regarding the wedge of Aying geese across the background of one side of the medal. What more appropriate than that I should mail my first copy of "October Farm" to Benson? H o w I wish that it were possible to send the first copy of this book to French! H o w he would enjoy the wedge of geese which Benson, with characteristic generosity, offered to make after he had instantly complied with a request to illustrate the second volume. Needless to say, the result needs no praise from me. As I write this I am looking out of the window over the Museum

vi

Foreword lawn which Brewster crossed so often —a tall, spare, bearded figure at once frail and yet the embodiment of an almost majestic power, for he instantly seemed to dominate any group when he was present. Such is the way to command which the spirit gives. I am proud to have shared his friendship, in a small way, and to have loved him dearly. T H O M A S BARBOUR CAMBRIDGE

May

Illustrations WOOD DUCK

Frontispiece

CHICKADEES

16

F L U S H E D WOODCOCK

30

CROWS MOBBING AN O W L

64

Courtesy of the Museum of Comparative

Zoölogy,

Harvard

Vniversity

OSPREY

80

CROWS I N W I N T E R Courtesy of David McCord,

ICO Esq.

YELLOWLEGS I N A MARSH

136

A WEDGE OF CANADA GEESE

156

PAIR OF S N I P E

180

BLACK DUCK AT EVENING

2o8

RUFFEDGROUSE Courtesy of the Museum of Comparative

GRACKLES FLOCKING

220 Zoölogy,

Harvard

Vniversity

234

Concord River

Concord River R. ROBBINS having notified us that the Woodcock were in füll song at Carlisle, Jim and I determined to make a trip thither for the purpose of Hearing them once more. We accordingly selected this evening [April 8, 1879] which bid fair to be a good one for the purpose. Düving up from Concord, we arrived at Mr. Robbins' a little before sunset. A Woodcock, we found, had for several evenings past sung directly behind the house, rising first from a bushy run where I examined a nest in 1876 and afterwards lighting in the open field that adjoined the house. When the sun had fairly set and as the twilight was beginning to descend, Arthur Robbins came in to teil us that the Woodcock had already begun to bleat. We accordingly went out, and sure enough at intervals of a half minute or so the Night-hawk-like cry came up from the depths of the hollow in the run. Before the first flight upward began, we took our position on the stone wall that separated the field from a bushy hollow, and we afterwards found that we could not have been better posted, for at the dose of his song our long-billed friend lit within twenty paces of US and we had an excellent opportunity to observe all his motions as he sat on the close-cropped and withered yellowish turf. He repeated his serenade some six or eight times, when it became so dark that he ceased altogether for that night. Once

M

Concord River he lit within twelve feet of us and went thro' all his curious notes and motions without apparently regarding my presence in the least. . . . When the bird rises into the air, its wings whistle steadily as it mounts in a broad spiral course into the dusky heavens. The highest point reached is perhaps three or four hundred feet. It then begins to descend by a series of irregulär, erratic plungings, which produce the effect of dividing the whistling "into syllables." The whistling is at this period especially shrill and loud, but is nevertheless unmistakably produced by the wings. When about one third of the descent is effected, the wings are apparently (!) set and the bird floats evenly and slowly downward like a dusky ball of thistle down. Then begins the vocal music, a succession of soft and exceedingly liquid notes which are accelerated as the author nears the earth. My original description was perhaps a trifle overdrawn but still the song is a beautiful one and if it had just a little more power it would scarcely be surpassed by that of any of the true singing birds. I was also again reminded of the boys' water-whistle; the resemblance is certainly an obvious one. When within about thirty feet of the earth, the song is abruptly cut short, and with the speed and directness of an arrow's flight the performer glides down on set wings to near the starting place. Several times when he passed near us the rush of his wings was very audible. When he first alighted, he stood for a moment in a stooping posture, then made a short, gliding run, stopped and with a preliminary pt-ul uttered his harsh pa-ap. Then he ran a few steps more and again gave his Singular cry. After three or four runs, he seemed to find a spot

Concord River to his liking and would then remain nearly motionless, bleating however at intervals of about fifteen seconds, until he again took flight. Just before each cry his tail was jerked up with an automaton-like motion, and as the sounds followed his head was suddenly thrown back and his throat perceptibly swelled. Mr. Robbins told us that he alighted regularly in nearly the same spot each evening. Mr. R. also thinks that this nightly song ceases as soon as the eggs are laid. He has never known it continued after the light had entirely faded from the western sky, except on one occasion, a moonlight night, when it was protracted until nearly 9 P.M. With the first faint streaks of dawn it is again resumed and continues until broad daylight. W e heard another Woodcock rise from the run just before Our songster took his first upward flight. It was probably the female. And later while the male was bleating in the open field within a few yards of us a Woodcock passed swiftly within a few feet of my friend's head. The course described by the bird while in the air would Cover several acres. He seems fairly to exult in his free upward wanderings and his descent is one joyous tumult of ecstatic melody. He looks like a small black ball in the dusky sky.

Concord, October 10, 1819 ANNUAL DAY WITH DAN FRENCH.

At

8 A.M.

I Started off with

Dan French for our annual day on the river. . . . A t the trout brook we went ashore and scrambled about for a little while, discovering some fine paper birches and a very large witch-hazel 5

Concord River which was in füll bloom, altho' its leaves had not all fallen. Dan, taking my gun, walked up to the duck ponds, while I lay down on the edge of the woods and watched a swarm of Titlarks which were feeding over a newly ploughed field. In the woods behind me Jays and Squirrels were busy as usual, and an occasional cicada shrilled while the answering calls of the unknown autumn voice were almost incessant. Finally D. returned; he had seen several Partridges but did not get a shot at them. Starting again, we rowed up past the next bridge to the spot where we ate our dinner last year (Oct. i 6 ) . Here we landed and spent a pleasant hour at our noontide meal. As we were about setting off again a couple of rakish-looking gunners entered the marsh on the opposite side of the river and began to beat it with a large orange and white setter. In the course of the next half-hour they flushed five Snipe, four of which they killed. The old dog worked most admirably, pointing every single bird. From our slightly elevated position it was a most interesting if somewhat tantalizing sight. . . . As we again entered Fairhaven a thin gray mist had settled over the beautiful basin. The surrounding hüls were brought out in unusually bold relief and looked much higher than common. The expanse of water was absolutely without a ripple and the moist air rendered distant sounds distinctly audible. W e could hear a farmer whistling as he worked a mile away, and the chirp of crickets came distinctly to our ears across the widest part of the bay. . . .

Concord River Concord

to Wayland, September

A N N U A L TRIP W I T H DAN F R E N C H ON T H E RIVER.

At

28,

1882

I P.M. I

met D. C. French at Concord, and after a dinner at "the Manse" we Started up river at about 2 o'clock on our annual shooting trip. The weather was threatening and the day a most disagreeable one but we had no choice, or rather it was this day and the next or not at all this autumn. . . . W e sailed almost all the way to Sherman's bridge at the beginning of the great Sudbury Meadows, which we entered about dark. W e kept up sail for the remainder of the voyage but we rowed by turns, also, for it set in to rain in torrents and we made all speed possible, reaching Wayland at 8 o'clock, wet, cold and tired. Of birds we saw unusual numbers. A little above Lee's bridge — a mile above Fairhaven — two flocks of Blue-winged Teal passed us, wheeling about over the flooded meadows and finally disappearing up river in the gathering gloom. The larger flock of [the] two must have comprised at least seventy-five birds, the smaller perhaps half as many. When near the next bridge we Started four Great Blue Heron, a bird rare of late years on Concord River. Their picturesque forms loomed in the twilight so that they looked nearly double their real size. Besides these there were the old-time clouds of Rusty Blackbirds going to roost in the button bushes, an Osprey that poised over the stream in search of its evening meal, an occasional Black Duck winging his swift course across the gloomy sky, and at frequent intervals along the river's course sly, wary Grebes floating buoyantly on the water when at a distance, showing only their necks as we approached and finally sinking beneath the sur7

Concord River face and afterwards raising their heads only, to watch us as we passed. Our course through the great meadows was dreary in the extreme, and had few pleasant or even interesting diversions. Once or twice we heard the hoarse quack of a Dusky Duck, Startled from its feeding or resting ground by the Aap of our sail or the plash of an oar. But for the most part the only sounds were the rushing of the chill east wind and the seething hiss of thickly faUing rain-drops on the dim expanse of waters around. At one place we missed our course and got aground in the shallow waters of the meadow. Here I noticed small balls of phosphorescent light on the bottom. D. said they were freshwater sponges.

Concord, May

12,1886

Starting at 9 o'clock this morning, I drove to Hall's birches and spent the forenoon there, having my buggy driven home, and back again for me about noon. . . . As I passed through the birches lining the turnpike and entered the old apple orchard the scene was equally attractive to three of the senses — sight, smell and hearing. The apple trees were snowy domes of blossoms which scented the air with their delicate fragrance and among which countless bees droned and hummed. The orchard was framed on every side by a setting of the tenderest green with every now and then a touch of salmon red, marking the position of a solitary maple with its Clusters of winged seeds. Three Brown Thrashers were singing at once 8

Concord River in different directions, their varied notes drowning the weaker voices of the Warbiers and Sparrows. Every now and then, however, the song of a Chestnut-sided Warbier, or Black and White Creeper would rise above the din, and in the distance I occasionally caught the zee dee dee of a Golden Winged Warbler, or the ringing notes of a Field Sparrow. . . .

April 5, 18^1 Starting at 9.30 "with Almy, I drove to Concord by way of the Lyman place, Swedenborgian settlement and Lincoln. The sunshine was bright and cheerful but the wind bitterly cold. We saw no snow until just before we reached Lincoln. Between Lincoln and Concord the northern exposures were white with it and it lay two inches deep in swamps and under pines. Wachusett white from base to summit. CAMBRIDGE TO CONCORD.

The country was alive with birds. In fact I have not seen a heavier flight for years. Robins, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Tree Sparrows and Juncos were the most numerously represented. All four species of Sparrows were often seen in one flock but we saw some flocks composed wholly of Juncos and one of Fox Sparrows — about thirty birds. They were mostly in old fields along brush-grown walls or among weeds or stubble. In places they rose in clouds at our approach, Aying into the nearest bushes or woods. On the George Keyes place in Concord I heard Fox Sparrows singing and, following up the sound, came upon twenty M A N Y SPARROWS.

9

Concord River or more in Company with about an equal number of Tree Sparrows and Juncos. They were flitting in and out among some hazel bushes and wild cherry saplings that bordered a stone wall, occasionally venturing out a little way into a stubble field. Every few minutes a Fox Sparrow would begin its divine song but before it had half finished another would join in, then another, and still others, followed by Tree Sparrows, until a dozen or more of both kinds were singing at once, the trilling of several Juncos Coming in, in the intervals, like a low accompaniment. I know of nothing finer in the way of bird music than one of these outbursts heard, as I heard them to-day, with the warm April sunshine lighting up the brown fields and the bracing north-west wind piping in the bare tree tops.

While on our way to Concord just as we were entering the village of Lincoln, we saw a Broad-winged Hawk soaring overhead at a moderate height. Its peculiar shape and markings made it quite unmistakable. A little further on a fine old male Marsh Hawk appeared, beating a meadow on the left of the road, following a ditch for some distance and keeping much of the time below the level of its banks. This bird appeared fully as white as an adult Herring Gull. As we approached the hills below Ball's Hill, a pair of Redshouldered Hawks began screaming among the pines where the Cooper's Hawks breed and the next moment rose above the trees and soared majestically upward, circling in opposite directions and passing each other every half turn. They mounted to such a height that we actually could not see them at all with-

HAWKS.

lO

Concord River out the aid of our glasses and finally scaled down on a long incline into the Bedford Swamp, descending with meteoric speed. Just after they disappeared, as I was starting to paddle again, we heard a Grouse chitter on a little wooded knoll, now an Island within 20 yards, and presently saw the bird stalle over the crest under a small hemlock. Our attention was next attracted by two pairs of Goosanders, the drakes in füll plumage, which were floating in mid-stream. T h e y soon rose and were joined by a Black Duck, all five birds finally alighting again in the wood-encircled meadow near the pines on the edge of the Bedford Swamp. W e followed and, under the cover of the outer belt of birches, got within about 200 yards of them and watched them for ten or fifteen minutes through our glasses. The drakes were very showy, looking almost as white as Gulls, their coral red bills very conspicuous. One of them repeatedly lay over on his side and plumed his breast and abdomen, displaying the rieh salmon coloring of these parts! Both drakes devoted much of the time during which we had them under our glasses to preening and arranging their feathers but they also swam about with heads lowered and bills immersed to the eyes, apparently scanning the water beneath in search of fish. The females paddled slowly about, apparently doing nothing in particular. There was no diving on the part of any of them. A t length we showed Ourselves and the Sheldrake at once flew but the Black Duck who had gone fast asleep with head buried in dorsal feathers remained behind. His bewilderment and consternation when he at length awoke and discovered our boat approaching rapidly was very amusing. . . .

11

Concord River April 6, 18SU T o Concord with Bolles by 6.36 train. . . . On reaching the Manse, we took my Rushton boat from the boat house where it has lain all winter and prepared to Start down river. While thus engaged, we heard or saw a pair of White-bellied Nuthatches, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, several Song Sparrows and Red-wings, one Meadow Lark, Robins, and in the distance Fox Sparrows. The Woodpeckers were on the river bank. The male drummed several times, when the female appeared and joined him. The Nuthatches were creeping and scrambling about on a large ash near the North wall. W e paddled down river to Hunt's Pond, hearing many Song Sparrows and one little party of Tree Sparrows in füll song. A t Hunt's Pond we landed and walked back over the fields to a hollow where we found a flock of fully fifty Red-wings, all males. On seeing us, they flew into an oak and at once burst out into a ringing chorus or medley of singing as is their habit at this season. At a little distance, some of their notes resembled so strongly the honking of Geese that we both thought at first that Geese were really calling in the distance. W e landed again at Ball's Hill, which we climbed. The view Over the flooded meadows was very attractive, the great expanse of water with its bordering woods and isolated Clusters of trees resembling perfectly some natural lake, dotted with small wooded Islands. Bolles found a large, new-looking nest in a tall pine under which were several pellets apparently of a large Owl. In a Sandy field we found a large number of cylindrical, elongated masses of closely-felted mouse für, intermixed with 12

Concord River fragments of skulls and bones. At first we thought they must be Owl pellets but dose examination satisfied us that they were really faeces, doubtless of Foxes. We found others composed of rabbit für and bones in a wood path lower down river. . . .

Sudhury River, April 27, iS^ii . . . After breakfast we started down river. As we were passing Lee Davis's Hill, a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks emerged from the pines and drifted off before the wind, soaring in leisurely circles and screaming a little. We could see no nest. We landed just below this Hill and took the wood path which leads back into the farming country. At least two Partridges rose from under some young pines and we saw where they had been burrowing and dusting in a bare space of dry sand in the path. On reaching the first field, we started five Juncos. There were at least two White-throated Sparrows with them. One, a particularly high-colored bird with rieh yellow loral stripes, allowed us to get within two or three yards of him, acting as if tired and sleepy, closing his eyes at intervals. Probably he dropped in early this morning after a long migrating flight. . . , W e met a farmer, the owner of about 200 acres of this region, as we were passing through a wood path. He told us that it was a great country for Owls and that he had killed at least five different kinds while fox hunting. Foxes are numerous. He baited one last winter and shot him from under cover of a shed one moonlight night. 13

Concord River We visited the apple tree where Faxon and I found a Screech Owl a week or two ago, The hole was empty this morning but Bolles climbed to another higher up which proved to contain one bird. W e could not get at him except by tearing the branch to pieces, for the cavity was very narrow and descended at least two feet. There was an opening not over an inch in diameter at the bottom through which we could look directly in on the Owl who when poked with a twig retreated backward and downward into a crevice, where he stood bolt upright, showing only his face framed in dark, water-soaked wood, his eyes halfclosed, as usual. There were no signs of a nest in the lower hole and the one which contained the bird was far too cramped for a nesting place. The owl was a gray bird, doubtless the same individual seen during my last visit and probably a male, the female and nest being perhaps hidden in a tall rotten maple stub pierced with Colaptes holes and standing on the edge of a swampy woods a few rods from the apple tree. Just after we had reached the boats and embarked and while I was watching a Towhee (the first I have seen) which was scratching among the leaves at the base of the hill, an Osprey appeared over the meadow and plunged into the water after a fish which it must have missed for it reappeared empty-footed and flew off down stream. We passed Ball's Hill without stopping and kept on up river, fighting our way slowly against an exceedingly rapid current. A Bittern which had been feeding on an exposed strip of meadow rose and, after making a long flight, dropped into a tangle of long grass and button bushes. I followed it and came suddenly on it as it stood erect, neck stretched up and bill pointing directly 14

Concord River skyward. It was within twelve feet of me when I first saw it and shouted to Bolles and the impetus of the canoe carried me four or five feet nearer before the bird flew. I had approached the place over open water and in füll view of the Bittern. . . .

December

18^1

I rowed up to Bird's Nest Island and back without seeing a living thing save a fine Gray Squirrel which was in the old hemlocks. He passed rapidly from one tree to the next, running out over the branches and leaping from one to another, finally climbing the main trunk of a large tree and concealing himself among the foliage. On returning to the Buttricks' and just as I was stepping out of the canoe at the landing, I happened to look up and at once perceived a Shrike — a large, brown bird — sitting on the top of a bean pole on the hill-side above. His attitude was easy, yet erect, and he did not move in the least for several seconds. Then, after a flirt of the tail, he took wing and crossed the river in long, graceful undulations finally passing out of sight beyond Honeysuckle Island. The Shrike is perhaps as characteristic a feature of our winter landscape as is any other bird, not even excepting the Snow Bunting. There is a certain easy nonchalance in his bearing which assures one of the bird's hardiness and indifference to cold or hunger.

15

Concord River Damsdale, January 2$, 18^2 Spent a couple of hours in the forenoon Walking slowly over the ground visited yesterday. I was very weak and had to stop

frequently to breathe and rest. Saw a flock of five Chickadees in Pratt's birch swamp and two birds together in the pines in Derby's lane. Heard one Blue Jay and two Crows. These were literally all the birds noted. . . . Late in the afternoon I walked to the top of Ripley's Hill. There was not a breath of wind and the air seemed as soft and warm as on an evening in May. The sun set in a mass of dark clouds through the rents in which it shot forth a strong, pure light. At one time the air seemed filled with a golden dust and the ice on the Mill Brook meadow was fairly ablaze, appearing of a deep flame color. The river was open as far as I could see in both directions to about its normal width but children were everywhere skating on the flooded meadows. As I crossed the crest of the hill two Grouse rose from the edge of the maple swamp below and after Aying a few rods dropped among the bushes. SUNSET FROM RIPLEY'S HILL.

January 50, 18^2 After the snow had quite ceased falling, I Started for the Damsdale [woods] following the Estabrook road. There was perhaps an inch of new snow, fine and pow16 DAMSDALE WOODS.

Chickadees

Concord River dery, but it had blown off many places in the road and in the fields the tips of the grass blades rising through and above it gave the surface a decided tinge of pale straw color. . . . Following the brook up through the Damsdale meadow I looked closely among the tussocks and bushes for tracks of small mammals. In two places I found the fresh trail of a mouse leading from one bunch of grass to the next, six or eight feet across open snow, thus proving that these animals expose themselves to some extent by day. There were no other tracks of any kind. Turning back and climbing the slight ridge to the south I found on the sheltered edge of the woods a merry party of Tree Sparrows, 24 in number and with them one Junco. They were feeding among some weeds. Every now and then the musical tweedle, tiveedle call would Start and run through the flock. They had covered the fresh snow with braided trails, the foot prints in pairs or one slightly in advance. A Downy Woodpecker near them in a wild cherry. FIELD M I C E .

February 2, 18^2 The morning was delightfully soft and warm without a breath of wind, the sun peeping through a thin curtain of clouds at intervals. The roads were muddy and the snow melted rapidly on the northern slopes. On reaching Holden's I got out of the buggy and cut across the intervening fields and wood-lots directly for Ball's Hill. . . . BALL'S HILL.

17

Concord River Whcn I first appioachcd the edge of the meadow a Partxidge rose from the wood edge on the opposite side, Aying back into my maple swamp. Just after it left the ground it began calling, keeping it up until it was out of sight beyond the crest of the ridge. I noted the sound on the spot thus: Kr-r-r-uck, kr-r-r-uck, kuk, kuk\ this repeated. The bird flew rather slowly but made quite as much whirring as usual although it went only a short distance and acted as if undecided whether to immediately realight or not, making as it were a halting flight. I have frequently heard the vocal sounds just described on similar occasions and also when a bird has started to run a little way before Aying. I doubt if they are ever given by a bird in swift Aight or by one which rises strongly. They are perhaps oftenest heard from a wingbroken bird just roused from its place of concealment. PARTRIDGE GLUCKS DÜRING FLIGHT.

On my way across country from Holden's I saw innumerable Rabbit tracks wherever there was enough snow to show them well. Doubtless a single Rabbit will make many tracks in a night but there was sufficient Variation in the size of the foot-prints to convince me that each cover where I saw them contained several of these animals. The tracks followed more or less well-beaten paths in places, in others wandered about, crossing and recrossing openings in the bushes and winding about among their stems. The Rabbits had even visited small, exposed thickets of willows and cornels on the river banks or meadows several rods from the woods. There was much Variation in the tracks that I saw to-day but as a rule the foot-prints were squarely in pairs. Sometimes the four RABBIT TRACKS.

i8

Concord River prints were nearly or quite amalgamated. Those of the hind feet were always in advance. . . . Most of the tracks were on ice covered with thin damp snow and the impressions were so distinct that usually not only the toes but their claws as well had left a clear cast. Besides Rabbit tracks I saw only those of Mice and perhaps of Shrews, also. On a sunny slope of Ball's Hill where there was no snow and where the ground was covered thickly with dry leaves a small, dark slaty Mole or large Shrew crossed a narrow path within six feet of me, darting across as swiftly and quite as silently as a shadow. On going to the spot I found that it had a tunnel above the ground but under the leaves which were soggy and more or less frozen together in a mat of several inches in thickness. The tunnel was broken by the foot-path and in many other places was more or less open above, forming a deep trench not quite roofed over. I see many similar tunnels in the snow. Miller thinks they are the work of Field Mice but the animal I saw to-day was certainly either a Mole or a Shrew, I think the latter. . , . MOLES CR SHREWS.

February

j , 18^2

To Ball's Hill by sleigh at 10 A.M., taking lunch and spending the day. On the road saw a flock of sixteen Crows and a fine Red-tailed Hawk. The latter started from the top of a living pine, shaking down a shower of fine snow as it took wing. . . . CROWS.

19

Concord River Spent most of the forenoon trying to burn my big brush heap but the snow which covered the top melted as soon as the flames reached it and quickly put out the fire. Jays screaming in my woods and Tree Sparrows chirping in the swamp. Heard Snow Buntings in the air but did not see them. A Fox had crossed the eastern side of my lot in the night. He made two kinds of tracks, sometimes putting a fore and hind foot on exactly the same spot, sometimes a Httle apart. The longest stride I could find was only twelve inches. The päd marks measured 2 inches in length by i % inches in width. The Single tracks were never exactly in line but always in two parallel lines. FOX TRACKS.

Once in about fifty yards, on the average, the animal had voided a few drops of yellowish or pale orange urine, usually on the top of a slight mound but sometimes on a level surface. This led me to infer that it was a female. In the middle of my largest Clearing, within a few rods of my brush heap, the Fox had stopped and trampled down the snow over a space of perhaps a yard Square. On this trampled place lay most of the intestines of a Partridge. There were no feathers, bones or other fragments whatever. The intestines were frozen solid. I opened the coecum and found it filled with unmistakable Grouse excrement, quite fresh and having the usual pungent smell. The Fox had come from the Hill. Consequently I was following the back track. I traced it stcp by step back across the east spur of the hill and out over Holden's meadow to the river where it had apparently crossed the ice from the Bedford side. Where 20 i N T E S T i N E S OF PARTRiDGE K i L L E D B Y FOX.

Concord River had it killed the Partridge? Certainly not on my land for I found no trace of a struggle anywhere not even a single feather and the testimony of that blank sheet of soft snow was conclusive. The Fox had visited a large burrow on my hillside into which a Rabbit track led and had dug out a Httle sand, then had peeped into a smaller burrow near. After this it descended the hill and in a small opening about loo yards before it came to the place where the Grouse entrails lay had dug down through the snow and captured a mouse, the für of which with a little blood was smeared about the edges of the hole. There was no hole in the ground and the mouse must have been merely hiding beneath the snow which, curiously enough, showed no trace of its tiny foot-prints. It must have worked out to the spot where it was captured, under the snow. The Fox evidently scented it from a distance of several feet and turned sharply out to one side from his previously straight course. There was no sudden spring or stealthy stalk on his path. He merely trotted to the spot at his usual gait and began digging. . . . FOX DiGS O U T A M o u s E .

Damsdale, February 8, 1892 GRAY AND RED S Q U i R R E L S OUT I N F O R C E . Düring the last autumn and winter Squirrels have been exceedingly scarce, apparently, but I begin to suspect that like the Rabbits they are changing their habits and becoming more wary and retiring. At least since the last snow came I have found their tracks in nearly every piece of woods and this afternoon I saw and heard no 21

Concord River less than six, three Red and three Gray. One of the Red Squirrels was running along a wall, another was "chittering" and making a gnawing sound (precisely like a Rat gnawing a board) in a pasture oak, while the third "wound his dock" in a grove of white pines, the only time that I have heard this sound since last October. The Gray Squirrels were all together in the woods at the base of Punkatassett, at first in some leafless chestnuts, where they galloped about over the ice-coated branches without so much as slipping in the least, as far as I could see. Often all three would be in the same tree at once. Two of them were continually engaged in chasing the third. Is it their mating season? They were exceedingly noisy, making a great variety of sounds none of which were familiar to me. One was a loud huc uttered at regulär intervals and very bird-like in quality. Besides this, they gave frequently a low but penetrating squealing cry which was not unlike that of the Long-eared Owl. There were many other sounds which I cannot describe but which were mainly of a growling or whining character. From the bare chestnuts they made their way through the tree-tops into a grove of white pines. Here their mad gambols ceased and they separated, one betaking himself to the very topmost shoot of a tall pine where he sat for a long time balancing on the slender spray, which bent under his weight, like a bird. I have rarely if ever had so good an opportunity to watch Gray Squirrels before, at least in the North. These were very tame, allowing me to keep directly beneath them although at every Step my foot broke through the crust with a loud crashing sound. Pratt teils me that he has seen nine Gray Squirrels in his elms at one time. He protects them on his farm. 22

Concord River I spent much of the afternoon in studying Fox tracks. These animals appear to be literally swarming in this region. Their favorite tiunting grounds are, evidently, the open tussocky meadows bordering brooks. They had quartered nearly every Square rod of the Damsdale meadow and had dug innumerable holes through the snow to the ground in pursuit of Mice. In one place I found the entrails, in another the entrails and back with some skin and für, of a Mouse by the side of one of these holes. In a third hole was a Mouse's nest torn open and scattered about on the crust. Many tracks on a pine-clad hillside led into a beautiful little bower formed by the snow-Iaden branches of a young bushy pine touching the ground on every side, leaving within, about the Stern of the tree, an open space so high that I could stand erect there. Under this bower the snow was trampled down perfectly hard and smooth. It was smeared over with blood and sprinkled with minute pieces of hard, jagged bones which were certainly not those of any bird nor of any of our small mammals and which I took to be fragments of beef or mutton bones. There were no other animal remains whatever, but in a neighboring opening within about eight feet of a small, dense pine the surface of the snow was covered with the wing and tail feathers and some of the breast feathers, also, of a Blue Jay. The wing and tail feathers had all been bitten off near their bases. I examined every one and there was not a single exception. How did the Fox catch this bird? I found two tail feathers directly under the pine but the wind may have blown them there. Some of the branches of this tree were, however, bent TRACKS AND FOOD OF FOXES.

23

Concord River down to within two feet of the snow. Hence it is possible that the Fox may have sprung up and seized the Jay on its roost. I followed all the tracks that led into the opening a considerable distance back but did not find a single feather or drop of blood along any of them. This afternoon's experience convinced me that our Fox never gallops or lopes unless when startled or pursued. Indeed, every track that I saw was that of a Walking or trotting Fox. The normal track is like this [draivingl suggesting a pacing gait; but occasionally the foot-prints alternate like those of a Cat, from which they can be distinguished only by the larger size of the Fox's feet. Neither the Fox nor the Cat ever dots the snow in a perfectly straight line. Both usually (and I think the Cat invariably) put down the hind foot exactly or approximately so in the foot-print of the fore foot, but the Fox sometimes departs from this rule, as I noted a few days since. In Pratt's meadow fully thirty yards from any cover whatever I found a hole in the snow where a Partridge had apparently roosted under the slight crust. There was one small neat hole where she had entered it, probably ßying down to it with great force, and another larger hole where she had come out, bursting up through the crust and scattering broken pieces of it about. There was only one dropping in the burrow. A Fox track led by the spot within 25 feet! PARTRiDGE ROOSTiNG IN THE SNOW.

24

Concord River Concord, February 28, 18^2 RIPLEY'S HILL. Did not go out until half-past five o'clock P.M. when I walked to Ripley's Hill via the Manse grounds. The evening was gloomy and forbidding and I saw no birds until, on my return from the hill, I was approaching the Simmons house when a Screech Owl begain wailing, apparently in the pines that shade the avenue, where I have heard one several times before this winter. Quickening my pace, I was Walking down Monument Street towards the entrance to this avenue when the bird came Aying across the open field on my left and alighted in a large maple directly over my head. It sat very still and looked, against the sky, like a black ball about as large as one's fist. On the other side of the same tree I now perceived another small black ball, apparently the duplicate of the first. While I was wondering if it could be another Owl the first ball opened its wings and flew across the triangular field to the large trees on the lane at the foot of the hill, flapping pretty rapidly and very steadily until near them when the wings were set and the line of flight inclined first downward and then sharply upward, the bird pitching upward at the last precisely like a Redshouldered Hawk when about to alight, and again choosing a perch high in the tree. The next instant the other black ball followed and alighted again in the same tree with its mate, for they were evidently a pair, just starting out on their evening hunt together. After the first few wailings which came from the direction of the pines, both birds were perfectly silent. They looked rather large when Aying and the wings appeared (as they really are) disproportionately broad especially at the ends. I 25

Concord River could not make them out very well when the trees or Hill formed the background for the light was dim, although it was not nearly dark night at the time (6 P . M . ) . I longed to follow them on their evening prowl but certain circumstances prevented. It is evident that these Owls (I did not know before that there were more than one bird) roost regularly each day in the pines over the avenue to the Minute Man.

BaWs Hill, March 9,1892 A STRANGE BIRD v o i C E . To Ball's Hill by boat at 10 A . M . On the way down I saw a Shrike (just below Flint's Bridge), a Blue Jay and two Crows. As I was rounding the turn of the "Holt" I heard a bird in the air over the Great Meadows uttering a cry which I did not recognize. This sounded much like the whirt of the Least Flycatcher but was repeated at short and perfectly regulär intervals. It was evidently a flight note but of what bird I cannot imagine. I stopped repeatedly to listen for Bluebirds but heard none. Where can they be? The time is surely ripe for them, and nearly or quite half of the open country is now bare of snow. Soon after landing, which I did just below Bensen's line, I went to my log house and found Peter and Glover at work on the door. Afterwards I walked around behind the hill and had the rare good fortune to see a Shrike catch, kill and hang up a Field Mouse. This episode I fully described in my systematic notes so I will not repeat it here.* SHRIKE KILLS A FIELD M O u s E .

* See "October Farm," p. 28.

26

Concord River A Creeper, two Chickadees, and two Blue Jays were seen or heard on Ball's Hill. I expected to see Muskrats on my way up river at sunset but none appeared.

March lo,

iSpz

From a belt of aldcfs on the N. E. side of my maple swamp I started a pair of Ruffed Grouse. The female, a small bird with a very rufous tail, flew first, the male, a large gray-tailed individual, following her closely. The snow everywhere in and about this swamp is covered with their tracks. They evidently follow the lines of bushes as a rule but in one place the tracks crossed a wide opening, the bird showing by the length of its stride that it feit the need of haste in crossing so exposed a place. PAiR OF RUFFED GROUSE TOGETHER.

I burned the large brush-heap to-day and watched it to see what would come out. Nothing appeared but a Field Mouse which to my surprise seemed very little alarmed and clung to the slight shelter afforded by the outer fringe of brush until I left the spot. One of these Mice inhabits the wood-pile at my cabin and has become so tarne that it will almost eat from my hand. To-day I threw it several pieces of cake which it ate fearlessly while three or four of us were Standing in a circle about it within three or four feet. Its eyes look precisely like black beads and have scarcely more expression. In form and motions, especially the strongly arched back, it reminds me of a Muskrat. FiELD M i c E .

27

Concord River April

i8p2

A IO.3O A.M, I Startcd fot Ball's Hill in my decked canoe, paddling down. Heard Swallows Over the meadows and once a Martin. Song Sparrows and Redwings swarming. Bluebirds not diminishing in numbers as yet. Four Kingfishers at the Holt very noisy and acting queerly, Aying about two together high in air, making in addition to the rattle a harsh, grating scold exceedingly like that of a Jay. At times one would sail on motionless wings, at others beat the wings rapidly with aflutteringmotion like a butterfly. As nearly as I could make out through my glass, all four birds were males. I have never seen Kingfishers act in this way before. QUEER BEHAVIOR OF KINGFISHERS.

April

18^2

At 5 P.M. Started to walk home through the woods. I have never, I think, seen the country more beautiful at this season. The late afternoon light was wonderfully pure and strong yet very soft and tender. The air was perfectly still. Hylas peeping and Robins and Song Sparrows singing. A loud squealing outcry in a maple copse near the old orchard north of the swamp attracted my attention to a female Hairy Woodpecker which was Aying from tree to tree. As I was passing through Hubbard pasture I was startled by another and different squeal, short, sharp and metallic. It came from under a young pine within a rod of me and I heard something jump in the dry leaves. The next instant a Rabbit dashed 28 ESTABROOK WOODS AT SUNSET.

Concord River out and bounded across a space of open, hard, turfy ground, thumping as it ran. It will be remembered that I heard one utter a precisely similar squeal near Ball's Hill in the winter.

May 5, 18^2

T o Fairhaven, starting at 9.30 in my Rob Roy and sailing practically the entire distance. It was a great bird day; the country was simply swarming with migrants and there was much song at all hours. As I left the house a Bobolink flew overhead, singing joyously. A Yellow Warbier and Cat Bird were singing by the river. Near the Cattle-fair Building I saw a King-bird. Brown Thrashers and Towhees numerous on Fairhaven Hill and in füll song. The woods and fields about Martha's Point were alive with migrating birds, chiefly Yellow-rumped and Yellow Palm Warbiers. The latter were actually more numerous than they have been at any time previously. Heard a Parula and saw a fine male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. A Partridge drumming. Field Sparrows numerous. Got some common hornbeams and took lunch on the point. Then sailed back to Nine Acre Bridge and went in to the Ledum Swamp where I pulled up a few plants of Labrador Tea and Laurel and a great many young Spruces. I was returning to the river, a Cooper's Hawk, a fine blue-backed male, came from the wooded hill on COOPER'S H A W K .

AS

29

Concord River the right and on set wings scaied very swiftly and in a straight line out into the pasture and Struck at a Grass Finch sitting on a knoll, but missed its aim; the Sparrow rising nearly straight in the air to the height of loo feet and so made off closely followed in all its doublings by the Hawk which seemed ever on the point of catching it and twice, as I could see, thrust out a foot to snatch at it, but finally gave over the chase in evident despair and disgust and, turning, flew leisurely back to the woods from whence it Started. The first dash was made with great energy and grace but after the Sparrow eluded it and took to flight the Hawk handled himself awkwardly and behaved with less spirit although he had no difficulty in overtaking the Sparrow. After I had secured my load of trees to the deck of the canoe by a strong lashing I set sail for home, making most of the distance to the railroad bridge before I had to resume the paddle. I saw a few blossoms of shad bush out on Sunday (May i ) and more to-day but it cannot be said to be generally in blossom as yet. There are a few violets and anemones in sheltered places. The grass is green everywhere and in the meadows is from six to twelve inches tall. Saw many Swallows, chiefly Barn and White-bellied with two or three Sand Swallows and Martins. Of the last I counted seven sitting on a bird house in cultivated grounds just above Heard's Bridge where the river bank is terraced. They have bred there for years. The colony of Crow Blackbirds at Judge Hoar's has about 20 birds. Rusty Grackles very abundant everywhere to-day. SHAD BUSH BLOOMS.

30

Flushed Woodcock

Ü

'y

Concord River May

i8p2

I Started for Ball's Hill at 9 A . M , , paddling down in a steady driving rain against a N . E . wind. Saw few small birds but the Bobolinks were singing in spite of the dismal weather. Red-wings are, and have been for a week or more, comparatively scarce at least along the river. I saw scarce thirty to-day and of these more than half were females. I do not understand it. One thing is sure, viz: they have not been shot. Was surprised to start a Great Blue Heron from Mrs. Barrett's meadow where it was standing knee-deep in the water as I came around the bend above. It was in immature plumage. . . . Itflewfrom nearly the same spot as I passed on my way homeward at evening. In the morning I also started a Night Heron from this same meadow. Small birds were swarming at Ball's Hill. . . . A silent, drenched, forlorn-looking Wood Pewee was perched on the little oak in front of my cabin, catching flies. The Carolina Doves were in their favorite pine near the pond behind the hill. I Started them at least three or four times from this tree, yet there are still no signs of a nest. BALL'S HILL.

A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks were holding high carnival in Davis's swamp during much of the forenoon, soaring just above and dashing excitedly through the trees, both birds screaming almost incessantly. What a wild sound is the scream of this Hawk! It thrills one like fine music yet it is scarcely musical although very far from discordant. Perhaps something was disturbing these birds for some Crows were also Aying about the swamp in an excited manner. RED-SHOULDERED HAWKs.

31

Concord River A Ciow which daily resorts to Holden's meadow to feed has a voice strikingly like a Raven's. Indeed it reproduces the cruck, cr-r-crck of that bird so perfectly that I doubt if any one could detect the difference, if difference there be. . . . C R O w w i T H T H E v o i c E OF A R A V E N .

May

18^2

Frank M. Chapman came on from N e w York last night and joined me this morning for a three days' visit to Concord. Soon after he reached the Buttricks' we started up river in my canoes, paddUng against a strong wind and current. . , . As were wcre passing ClamShell Hill, C. called my attention to a male Red-wing who was acting in a most singular manner. With tail and wings spread, the wings beating or rather quivering, in a loose, nerveless manner much as if their motion was caused by the wind rather than by any muscular effort, the bird advanced very slowly, very slowly, up the hill side, uttering a continuous low chirping or cheeping like that of a young bird. His motion was even and regulär and was probably caused by the use of his feet, although his body was so flattened on the smooth turf that it seemed impossible that the feet could be used at all. The effect was strikingly like that of some toy bird, drawn slowly along by a string. P E C U L i A R BEHAViOR OF A G E L A i u s .

Presently we discovered a female Red-wing in a düster of 32

Concord River dry grass towards which the male was moving. On reaching her the male circled around her within a few inches, continuing his remarkable galt. He then, as I thought, tried to copulate with her when she started ofF, at first fluttering along on the ground much in the manner of her mate, then rising and Aying to the button bushes along the river, the male pursuing her. I do not recall ever seeing this performance before. The male did not once sing while it was in progress.

June 13, 18^2 As I ran the canoe into the narrow opening under the maples in front of my cabin at Ball's Hill a Song Sparrow dropped to the ground among the bushes within a few yards of me and began running about in a small circle, holding its wings extended but not, as far as I could detect, moving them. It uttered the scolding note occasionally but not loudly. Presently I saw something move near the center of the circle and a Chipmunk came out from under a fern frond and moved slowly along, paying no apparent heed to the Sparrow but nosing among the leaves after the usual manner of Chipmunks. After a little while the Sparrow's fears apparently became allayed and it flew up into the bushes where its mate had been singing all the while. A few minutes later I saw one of them feed a young bird which was doubtless the cause of the parents' anxiety but which was large enough to fly well. There can be little doubt, I think, that the Chipmunk catches and eats young birds occasionally. SONG SPARROW AND C H i P M U N K .

33

Concord River BROWN THRASHER'S NEST.

Visitmg the Brown Thrasher's nest

I found one of the old birds sitting or rather Standing on the nest, shielding the young from the hot sun. She allowed me to get within four feet of her but while I was trying to photograph her took alarm and flew up into the bushes where she sat quietly, chirping occasionally. T h e young are now nearly as large as Blue-birds and their eyes are open. Their bills are flesh-colored, the edges of the gape yellowish-white. T h e feathers of the first plumage are beginning to appear along the median line of the back, on the shoulders, and on the occiput. Elsewhere they are covered with long hairy down of a dark brown color. I am sure there were three young in this nest this forenoon but on visiting it at 3 P.M. I found only tivo. T h e old birds were absent but one soon returned and discovering me set up a scolding tcha-a-a-a- which quickly brought its mate also. Both were singularly bold and courageous, coming repeatedly within less than three feet of m y head and flitting excitedly from twig to twig, jerking their long tails up, down, and sideways, occasionally spreading them wide, flirting their wings with a quick, nervous motion and scolding me most vehemently. A t first they used the tcha-a-a-a note exclusively, but both soon changed this f o r the loud short cry which sounds so much like a smacking kiss. T h e y also occasionally gave the low Veery-like pleen and twice the male, doubtless under the influence of strong excitement, uttered half a dozen notes of his usual song in a soft undertone, sitting the while within less than two yards of me. Their bold, animated bearing and intense devotion to their young impressed me deeply.

34

Concord River A littlc before noon I took a short walk around and over the hill. The heat was intense but the strong breeze made it easily bearable even in the füll glare of the burning sun. The air was filled with a rieh yet subtle fragrance which varied constantly as I moved on through the woods and across openings, and the sources of which I could not trace. At times it was spicy, at others resinous, in quality. Doubtless its unusual prevalence and intensity at this mid-day hour was due to the great heat. WOODLAND ODORS.

I was interested to find that the birds were not in the least silenced or even subdued by the heat. Indeed I have rarely heard more free and energetic midday singing under any conditions. Creepers, Song Sparrows and occasionally a Thrasher sang with delightfui frequency in my woods and swamp. The Robins and Tawny Thrushes alone were silent. . . . EFFECT o F INTENSE HEAT ON BiRDS.

]une

1892

Grass Finches are still singing freely. This evening, just before the shower, one sitting in the top of an apple tree near the house held my dose attention for at least ten minutes. It was the finest singer that I have heard this season, or rather I should say that its singing was the finest for the same bird has frequented this field since April but, as I have noted in former years, the song certainly gains in both richness and expression as the season advances. The April singing was disapSONG OF THE GRASS FINCH.

35

Concord River pointing, the May better, but not until this evening have I heard the bird at its best. I care more and more for its song as I get older. It seems to me to combine in some degree the sweet simplicity of the Song Sparrow's song with the richness of the Fox Sparrow's and in addition to possess a spiritual quality not found in either. Sweet, simple, rieh, fervid — it is all these and more!

June /j,

18^2

Düring the entire spring and summer thus far I have seen in all not more than five or six of the small, mossy-backed Snapping Turtles in the river and but one of these actually out of water (in April, I think it was). The Painted Tortoise, since its first appearance, has been very numerous and on every sunny morning more or less of the latter could be seen on floating boards or the low branches of trees or bushes which overhang the water. The number of individuals who have thus exposed themselves for the sake of a sun bath has diminished steadily, however, since the hot summer weather began. This morning I saw not a single Painted Tortoise out of water but every suitable floating log or overhanging branch bore from one to half a dozen of the mossy-backed Snappers and 200 would be a low estimate of the total number that I passed on my way to Ball's Hill. When I returned late in the afternoon every one had disappeared but there were, as usual, a few Painted Tortoises in three places which the Snappers had occupied in the morning. 36 TURTLES.

Concord River N E S T OF T H E BROWN THRASHER.

I visited the Brown Thrasher's

nest at 3 P.M. and found the female sitting or rather Standing Over

the young, her feet spread wide apart, clutching opposite

sides of the nest. She seemed to be merely shielding the young from the sun. The young have increased in size markedly since my last visit and are now feathered over their entire upper parts with a plumage of a pale reddish brown lighter and more yellowish than that of their parents. While I was looking at them, the male parent appeared and alighting on a branch within a yard of my face bobbed his head up and down several times much in the manner of a Plover. He then sang several snatches of his usual song but in so low a tone that had I not seen him I should have thought him to be far away — just on the limits of ear ränge, in fact. He did not seem to be particularly excited or anxious on this occasion. What is the meaning of this sotto voce singing at the nest? LEAST BITTERN.

At

2 P.M.

to-dav the Least Bittern began coo-

ing in the thicket of button bushes opposite Ball's Hill. I heard him at frequent intervals during the entire afternoon up to 5 o'clock when, as I sailed past his stronghold on my w a y up river he was Galling steadily at short, regulär intervals. . . .

I

passed within 20 yards of him and at this short distance found that the tones of his voice lost wholly the soft Cuckoo-like quality which it has when the bird is far away and became almost disagreeably hoarse and raucous as well as somewhat hollow and vibrating. . . . YELLOw-BILLED

cucKoos.

Yellow-billed Cuckoos are now

more numerous along the river than I have ever seen them be37

Concord River fore, and they seem to have driven out all the Black-bills. I hear them every few hundred yards and see them swinging from tree to tree or across the stream, with their slow but graceful flight. MUSK-RAT.

A Musk-rat which came up within a yard of my

boat and then swam directly away from me employed its tail continuously, as I could see with perfect distinctness, in a lateral sculling motion which doubtless added somewhat to the impetus given and maintained (as I could also see) by the feet. I have often before suspected that the tail was used in this way, but now I know it. . . .

June 21, 18^2 5

P.M. LEE DAVis's HILL.

Sitting in my canoe writing these

lines in the shade, the sun having sunk behind the tops of the pines to the West. Great sulphurous white clouds floating in a pale blue sky. The foliage of the white maples along the river and the edges of the meadow tossing in the wind, looking thin and dishevelled and showing the whitish under surfaces of the leaves. About the canoe the water is covered thickly with the floating leaves of the pond lily, floating heart, Marsilea and the long-leaved Polygonum. Further inshore rise the erect stems of Pontederia, each bearing at its top the single large, lanceshaped, oily green leaf. T h e y form a fine belt of green above the margin of the placid stream. Still further in, marking the beginning of the real land, are young maples, willows, alders and birches overrun with grape-vines and green briars with 38

Concord River here and there a tuft of cinnamon ferns and one large düster of wild roses in füll bloom. Behind and above this lower wall of diversified but generally tender green foliage rise the somber pines and tall old oaks for which the hill is famous. A Pine Warbier is singing in the pines, a Veery, Cat-bird, Chestnut-sided Warbier and Maryland Yellow-throat in the thickets near the water. From across the river come the rieh gurgle-eea or per-dle-ea of the Red-wing and further off rises the tinkling melody of the Bobolink. Now I hear a Robin singing and next a Grosbeak. A Wood Pewee gives a low, sad pee-e-e among the pines. Now a Black-billed Cuckoo in the extreme distance and a Song Sparrow near at hand. The fine bass voice of the Bull Frog rolls out over the water from his reedy covert at frequent intervals, and the Green Frog answers with a tung, tung on his own tight harp strings. The breeze is now dying fast, the sun sinks lower in the west and the meadows are flooded with a tender light. The grass and trees wherever the sunlight strikes are strongly yellowish, a warm greenish yellow; the river now nearly calm is nearly the color of the sky, but whiter and more burnished. Swifts come about me, skimming dose over the river. Now a Barn Swallow, a rare bird here at this season, joins them. Redeyes are singing in the line of old oaks on the eastern edge of the meadows. There are mysterious plashings and gurgling sounds among the reeds near me, probably made by fish or frogs, and a Woodchuck rambling about on the hillside in search of his supper rustles the dry leaves loudly. The air over the water is THE RIVER AT SUNSET.

39

Concord River alive with Dragon-flies of varied form and coloring. One of the commonest species is wholly of a rieh plum color. Decr flies appeared yesterday and to-day annoy me wherever I go, whether by land or water. DEER FLIES.

A Crow passes ovcrhcad, pursued by an irate Red-wing who belabors the big coward unmercifully. The Red-wing is fully as brave and enterprising in driving Hawks, Crows and Grackles away from his nest as is the King-bird. R E D - w i N G HARAssiNG A C R O w .

5.45 P.M. The breeze nearly all gone. A füll chorus of Bull Frogs makes the shores ring and drowns the singing of the birds. The latter, however, are not singing as freely as they were an hour ago. 7.15 P.M. Passing through the "Holt." The sun is just sinking out of sight, the breeze has died. On the south-west horizon rests a great cloud, its outlines resembling those of a mountain, one end breaking down abruptly in a precipice with overhanging brow, the whole cloud tinged salmon and ashes of roses and strongly luminous as if the sun were shining through it from beyond. Robins, Red-wings, Song Sparrows, Bobolinks (2), Yellow Warblers (2), an Oriole, Black-billed Cuckoo, Meadow Lark, Maryland Yellow-throat and Field Sparrow singing, a Bluebird warbling very softly and sweetly (the song seems to me much finer now than in early spring), King-birds twittering, Sandpipers peet-weeting. Bank Swal40 BIRDS SINGING A T SUNSET.

Concord River lows and one Barn Swallow darting about among the Dragonflies dose above and around me. Now a Long-billed Marsh Wren, the first I have heard, sings in the meadow just to the south of the head of the Höh. Muskrats cut their silvery furrows across the burnished surface of the sluggish stream. I press two of them ciosely and force them to give up the masses of green herbage which they are bearing to their nests. One load proves to be made up wholly of the stalks of the sweet flag, the other of a short, wiry grass that grows along the banks. Bull Frogs trump and Green Frogs mng all around me. Now I hear the summer squawk of the Toad. The Canary grass along the banks forms a gray-green wall higher than a man's head in places. At the swimming place I hear two Savanna Sparrows.

]iily 2, 18 MUSKRAT'S

NEST

WITH

YOUNG

IN

BOAT-HOUSE.

A t

II

A.M.

I

Started for Ball's Hill. On opening my boat-house I was surprised to discover a great deal of water-soaked Vegetation (largely bladderswort and Pontederia) placed on the flooring just inside the door and built up about the stern of one of my canoes to the height of a foot or more. Near the center of this heap was a deep, circular hollow as smooth and symmetrical as: the cup of a Robin's nest and about as large as the interior of a Crow's nest. This was very neatly lined with fine green grass, perfectly fresh, soaking wet, and all of the same kind. A brown object slipped out of this hollow as I threw back 41

Concord River the door and paused in a timid, shrinking attitude on the floor behind. As soon as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom, I made out this animal to be a large Muskrat and on examining the nest I found in the bottom of the hollow six baby Muskrats, bhnd, perfectly naked, with absolutely round tails and skin of a uniform soft mouse color above, pinkish flesh color below. They were about as large as full-grown Field Mice but were perfectly helpless, lying cuddled together in a mass and writhing incessantly like so many big grubs just unearthed. The mother quickly disappeared, probably through a hole in the floor. There must have been at least a bushel of material heaped up to form this nest. I am sure that none of it was there yesterday afternoon at 3 o'clock when I took out one of the canoes but on my return yesterday evening it was too dark to see anything in the house. I am in doubt as to whether these young were born in the boat-house last night or merely taken there by the mother from some hole in the bank flooded by the recent rise (only a few inches) of the river. Visited this nest this evening at 7 o'clock. The mother Muskrat on, looking precisely like a great, brown, hairy bird. Soon after I opened the door she rose on her feet and I could see that the young were nursing. Three of them clung to her teats when she finally scuttled off and two of these three feil from her belly through a crack in the floor into the water. The third dropped on the boards and I put him back into the nest. The same thing happened again on the 3rd at about 12.30 noon, when the mother Muskrat took off all her young but one, clinging to her teats. One dropped off just outside the nest, another feil through a crack into the water and one or two re42

Concord River mained attached to her when she stopped in the back part of the boat-house where, to my surprise, another adult Muskrat which I took to be her mate was found crouching under a canoe. Mr. Tolman crawled in past both Muskrats, passing within three feet of them without disturbing them. Two young clung to the mother's teats. I do not know whether or not she rescued those that feil into the water. (No! all thus dropped perished.)

Jiily j , i8p2 Two young Oriolcs left the nest in the elm in front of the Buttricks' on the ist inst., but at least one of the brood still clung to it as late as the forenoon of the 3rd. They were all out yesterday but one remained in the tree last evening. This morning two were calling in an elm on the opposite side of the road and both parents were busily engaged in supplying them with food. The father went to the orchard but the mother, as long as I watched her, regularly flew down into the tall English grass in Mr. Keyes' field where, after perching on a weed head for a moment, she hopped down to the ground and was of course lost to view. As she came Aying back, I was Struck by the tone of mingled anxiety and interrogation of her low call. "Where? Where?" she seemed to say. "Here-we-are. Here we are" (falling inflection *) both young would promptly drawl in answer and BROOD OF YOUNG ORiOLES.

* A week later when this call had become louder and mellower, it often bore a strong resemblance to the whistle of the Greater Yellow-leg, the form being almost exactly the same. — AUTHOR'S NOTE.

43

Concord River then, as she alighted near them, would repeat and extend this "Herehere to: iveive are, mam-ma, are, mam-ma." It really required almost no imagination to fit these words to the calls in question and now that they have occurred to me the Galling of young Orioles will no longer be to my ears, as it always has been, a disagreeable sound. On May i6th I first saw the pair of Orioles in the elm where this brood have been successfully reared. The male was probably about the house before this, but if so I failed to distinguish him from migrating birds. On the 16th, about noon, he came into the elm with his mate and, Aying to the exact spot where the nest was afterwards built, clung with feet wide apart between the pendant twigs for a minute or more, uttering a low continuous chattering, evidently begging the female to come and see what a pecuharly favorable nesting site he found, but she meanwhile was feeding busily in another part of the tree and turned a deaf ear to his entreaties. Three or four days later, however, I saw her weaving the first strands in among the twigs. The nest was not finished until May 3oth. HisTORY OF ORIOLE'S NEST.

The Flickers in the nest by the landing are fully feathered and on the point of Aying, I should say. I examined them all carefully this afternoon and could see little individual difference, even in respect to the "mustache" which is now about equally black and conspicuous with them all, although a few days ago it was comparatively pale and inBROOD OF YOUNG FLICKERS.

44

Concord River disrinct with two birds which I then took to be feniales. I should not n o w venture to attempt any Separation of the sexes in this brood b y their present external characters. U p to within a few days (it succeeded last on the 3rd) it was easy enough to Start all these young clamoring for food by rattling or scratching the back or the outside of the stump but either they have learned to detect the imposition or they have become more shy and silent( the latter, I think, is the real explanation) for both yesterday and to-day I tried in vain to elicit any sound from them. T o - d a y I was working on m y canoe under the tree for nearly tw'o hours, making scarcely any noise, however. Düring this time I did not hear a sound f r o m the young Woodpeckers save once when their parent came into the tree and, seeing me probably, called anxiously a number of times, using the long laugh but giving it in soft, low tones. T o this the young responded with a subdued chatter. T h e parent bird did not go to the nest and soon flew off. T h e young have not as yet climbed to the top of the cavity. T h e y sit or rather squat in the bottom, tails in, breasts against the walls, filling the space with a mass of mottled black, brown and drab plumage, above which, pointing upward, rise the five long bills each tipped with white. . . . Their glistening dark eyes are also conspicuous and they wink frequently. I took out one to-day, when it struggled violently and set up a loud, shrill screaming.

T h e nest now has a rank, foul smell but the

plumage of the young is clean and perfectly free from vermin. Each young bird still has the ivory white mask on the tip of the Upper mandible and also a conspicuous whitish glandulär excrescence on each side of the lower mandible at its base. . . . 45

Concord River After tca this cvcning I took a walk up the Estabrook Road to Clark's and beyond through Dutton's Lane to the swamp where the brook crosses the path. The weather was cool with a puff of East wind every now and then. The sunset was glorious and unusually prolonged and varied with great clouds piled up in the west changing constantly in color, form and arrangement. There was almost if not quite as much and as vigorous bird-singing as one would hear of an early June evening: Robins, Cat-birds, Song Sparrows, Black-billed Cuckoos, Least Flycatchers, Bluebirds — all these in füll song — and everywhere throughout the closecropped pastures rose the tender, soothing chant of the Grass Finch. . . . EVENiNG W A L K UP ESTABROOK ROAD.

Twilight was deepening into night when I turned back and entered the large pasture just beyond Clark's but the Grass Finches (two of them) were still singing there. Approaching within 20 yards of one which I could dimly see sitting on a large boulder, I lay down on the turf and listened until it ceased. One must be very near this bird to get the best effect of its song. I know of no other sound in Nature which so rests and soothes me. It is like the touch of a soft hand and steals through all the senses, quieting the nerves and bringing peace and rest. SONG OF THE GRASS FiNCHES.

After my bird had finished singing, he joined his mate on the ground within a few yards of me where both rambled about for several minutes among the short thin grass every now and then raising their heads to look at me. May Heaven keep them from the villainous black cat which I found in and drove from their 46

Concord River pasture home when I entered it this evening. Just before the Grass Finches ceased singing, a Whippoorwill began in the woods beyond Dutton's. I heard it at frequent intervals, but the song was very brief, from ten to fifteen "whippoorwills" only. It became silent after dark. BIRDS SING MOST F R E E L Y IN COOL W E A T H E R A T THIS SEASON.

It

is worthy of remark that cur birds sing most freely and generally at all hours on very warm days early in the season — at least up to the middle of June — and later in cool weather. The singing during the past two days and especially this evening has been perhaps remarkable for this season but I have noted the same thing — the marked effect of a change to cooler weather in the early summer — in former years.

July p, 18^2

T o Ball's Hill at 10 A . M . , sailing down in my canoe. . . . Barn Swallows have appeared on the river with their young since I last went down-stream. I counted no less than seven broods to-day with 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, and 5 young, respectively. The young of each brood were perched within a few feet or inches of each other, usually on the leafy branch of a maple or willow low over the water but sometimes on a dead branch. The parents (both sexes) were feeding them largely if not wholly with small moths. When the parent bird approached, the latter would open its mouth wide and chatter loudly, at the same time quivering its wings. It usually received YOUNG BARN

swALLOws.

47

Concord River the moth in the tip of its bill and swallowed it at once. The parent never seemed to hesitate in its choice of the young bird which it afterwards fed but flew directly to one or other of the fluffy little group. Once I saw an old Warbier feed the same young bird three times in succession, although four other young were huddled together not four feet off. Young Kingfishers, very tarne and still with noticeably short tails and crests, were scattered all along the river. Of course I saw the same birds many times but there must have been four or five of them in all. The parent birds did not seem to be attending to them and I was thinking about this and wondering when and how the young begins to catch fish when one of them fluttered feebly out over the water and, poising clumsily for a moment, dove down in the usual manner, but just before he reached the surface he turned upward again. Thus my question was at least partially answered. YOUNG KINGFISHERS.

When I reached it at about 4 P . M . , the female was sitting, her head turned in a direction just opposite to that on my last visit and lowered so that the throat rested on the rim of the nest, the crown being about level with the back. This made her very much less conspicuous than on the former occasion. The change of attitude was perhaps due to the presence of some Jays which were uttering various low choking and gasping sounds in the trees overhead and whose keen eyes the Dove may well have wished to elude.

DOVE'S N E S T .

I stopped directly under the nest, my head not more than four feet below it. For a moment the Dove did not so much as 48

Concord River wink; then she suddenly started and fluttering noisily and clumsily through some dense foliage, hitting against dead twigs and plunging through bunches of leaves, descended in a half circle to the ground where, in the middle of a little opening within 15 yards of where I was Standing, she rolled over and Over and spun around and around, beating her wings like a Partridge in its death flurry and making a precisely similar sound. A Thrasher, attracted by the commotion, darted through the undergrowth and, alighting within six inches of the Dove, regarded her with evident wonder and concern; and a Flicker came into a tree overhead and peeped curiously down through the leaves, uttering a low worr-e-e-roo

of enquiry or sympathy.

After groveling thus for a minute or more, the Dove started off along the ground, alternately fluttering and Walking. I did not follow her and she did not return while I was near the nest. As an Imitation of the behavior of a badly-wounded or rather dying bird I have never seen anything to equal the performance just described. It was not accompanied by any vocal sounds whatever. Perhaps the most interesting thing connected with it is the fact that the nest about which all this fuss was made was in a tree and the eggs still unhatchedl

When I looked at them

a few minutes later, I noticed for the first time that one was fully a third larger than the other. The "runt" egg looked transparent and infertile but the larger egg was dark-colored and evidently near hatching. A f t e r descending to the ground, I drove away the Jays and left the place.

49

Concord River July 10, 1S92 Spelman came up from Cambridge by the morning train and at 11 A.M. I Started up river with him, taking the Rushton boat and using the paddles only. . . . Soon aftcr entering the "Bay" we heard a Hawk screaming among the pines on Lee's Hill. The tone of its voice at once recalled to my mind that of the Red-tailed Hawk which frequented this hill in the summers of 1886 and 1887 but I think the form of the cry was different. The present bird regularly uttered three cries in succession * — the first rather low and subdued in tone, the second and third rising and shrill with an indescribably wild, free ring. They were exceedingly like the beginning of the Duck Hawk's scream, but there were never more than three. After we landed, the bird appeared and sailed over us in circles for several minutes, coming within gunshot at times. It was a Red-tailed Hawk, a male, I should say, and was in the "immature" plumage, having the entire tail grayish crossed by numerous narrow dark bars. It was undoubtedly breeding, for it showed great anxiety at our presence. I saw two other Red-tails to-day, one near the Clamshell Hill, the other this morning in the meadow beyond Mr. Burrill's. S C R E A M OF T H E RED-TAiLED H A W K .

A Cat-bird at Lee's Cliff sang delightfully most of the time that we were there, coming into a low pine directly over us. Its song was exceptionally good, being SONG OF T H E CAT-BIRD.

* These cries were wholly unlike the neighing cry which the Red-tail commonly Utters. — AUTHOR'S NOTE.

50

Concord River almost wholly free from the usual grating, snickering or choking sounds which mar it so sadly, and composed chiefly of round, füll liquid notes. Although it lacked the power and vigor of the song of the Brown Thrasher it was equal if not superior to it in every other respect. I do not think that I ever before heard Catbird singing which equalled this. SCREECH OWL W A I L I N G .

In the evening at about 9

P.M.,

the

moon having just risen, I heard a Screech Owl wailing in the old orchard.

July 14, 18^2 Düring my last trip down river I noticed what I took to be a bunch of drift, clinging to the extreme end of a half-dead branch of a willow which extended out over the river, scarce two feet above the water. This morning, to my astonishment, it had developed into a neatly-finished nest on which a King-bird was sitting on one fresh egg. Both nest and bird were absurdly conspicuous and I was not surprised when, passing the spot on my return, late in the afternoon, I found the nest empty and the bird gone. Yet what could have taken the egg? Certainly not a Squirrel, probably not a Jay and there are no Grackles along the river now. I am inclined to suspect that a Cuckoo was the thief. (I afterwards found the egg in my canoel In some mysterious way I must have shaken it out of the nest.) KING-BIRD'S N E S T .

51

Concord River July i6, i8p2 I Started for Ball's Hill at 8 A.M. under reefed sail. The high wind had driven the birds to shelter and I saw but few and heard only Song Sparrows singing. As I was passing Hunt's Landing, a pair of adult Red-tailed Hawks Started from the same tree, a tall elm, and soared upwards, balancing on the wind. The male bore something in his claws which looked like a half-devoured snake. RED-TAILED HAWKS.

At the Holt a Cooper's Hawk shot past, skimming down wind with great swiftness, yet a Red-wing pursued and actually overtook htm, giving him a succession of vicious pecks on the head and finally forcing him to seek shelter in a tree. . . . R E D - w i N G OVERTAKES COOPER'S HAWK.

At 3 P . M . I visited the Dove's nest again. The female was on, facing north, head raised decidedly above the line of the back but not so high as on the pth. I stood nearly under the nest for three minutes (by my watch). Düring this time the Dove did not wink once, while I was forced to dose and open my eyes just thirty-six times! At length I stretched my hand slowly towards the nest and the bird started off. She flew in her usual manner, fluttering noisily through the foliage and descending in a half circle but when within about four feet of the ground she alighted abruptly on the branch of an oak, where she sat looking at me quietly for a moment and then, taking wing again, disappeared among the trees. My theory that, having tried the wounded-bird performance and found it DOVE'S N E S T .

52

Concord River futile or unnecessary, she has now abandoned it, gathers probability. I was mistaken in supposiug the runt egg to be infertile for it has hatched. The young bird is at least a third smaller than the one which hatched first. I was also mistaken in regard to the color of the skin of the young. The light was good to-day and having my glass with me (I cannot get nearer than within 15 feet of the nest) I saw distinctly that in both young the skin of the entire body and head is of a dark purplish brown. This shows conspicuously on the head, which is nearly or quite naked, but elsewhere is partially concealed by a rather dense coat of hair-like down, of a pale straw color. The younger bird has the down still wet and plastered to the skin in places. The eggshells have been removed from the nest and I could not find them under it. The young Orioles still give the herewe-are call but less and less frequently as the season advances. I watched an old female of this species eat cherries yesterday. She operated on them in a deliberate, somewhat fastidious manner, piercing the skin with her sharp bill and then slowly tasting and swallowing the juice and perhaps some of the pulp also. In no instance was the cherry removed from the stem. This was in marked contrast to the behavior of the greedy Robins about her, the Robins first plucking the cherry and then swallowing it whole, not without some difficulty. ORIOLE EATiNG CHERRiES.

53

Concord River July i8, i8p2 Robins were singing at day-break. They were closely followed by Swamp Sparrows and next by a Cat-bird. I arose just as the sun was appearing over the Hill to the east. It was one of those brilliant mornings which seem too perfect to be real and indeed, when I looked out over the bay, I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was awake, for in place of the water was what seemed to be a level piain of spotless snow. It was, of course, fog lying dose to the water and nowhere encroaching on the shore even where this was meadow. A little later when a light air started from the earth the wintry effect was heightened, for the fog began driving across the Bay just as the drifting snow drives. I have rarely seen anything more beautiful. Just before sunrise there was a grand chorus of Redeyes rolling all around the wooded shores. . . . suNRisE AT L E E ' S C L I F F .

After tea I walked up the Estabrook Road to Clark's pasture, where I smoked a cigar and watched the sun set and darkness fall, sitting on my favorite boulder near the middle of the field. The evening was calm and peaceful but the life and sparkle of the morning were gone and in their place a dull apathy possessed all nature. The influences which work such a change are often subtle but in this case they were apparently a bank of gray clouds rising in the west and the presence of much smoky haze in the atmosphere. There were intervals, sometimes of a minute or more in length, when not a bird sang. Then I would hear, one after EVENING W A L K TO SUNSET PASTURE.

54

Concord River another, Robins, Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Chippies, Grass Finches, Meadow Larks, Quail, and occasionally a Blackbilled Cuckoo. A t 7 4 0 , when the light was failing fast, a Tanager sang a few times and just five minutes later the first Whippoorwill began. Five minutes after this Grass Finches and Field Sparrows were still singing. One of the former closed the diurnal concert at 7.53. . . . KiNG-BiRDS.

I now

See

many broods of young King-birds ac-

companied by their parents, sitting on bushes along the river and usually well out over the water. The young are more active and animated than most birds of their age and already show much of the irritable, quarrelsome disposition so characteristic of their species. The parents are feeding them largely on Dragon-flies and I see them chasing these insects continually, not always with success for the dragon-fly is a good dodger and King-bird's stock of patience small. A bird to-day pursued a dragon-fly upwards to a height of more than a hundred feet and after snapping at it vainly four or five times in quick succession gave up the chase in evident great disgust and sailed back and down to its disappointed brood, which were sitting in a button bush.

July

i8p2

Late in the afternoon started for Ball's Hill, having a glorious sail down in my decked canoe. On reaching my cabin I left my things there and walked to Bensen's by way of the river path, returning past Davis's Hill and through my swamp. . . . 55

Concord River Visited the Dove's nest at 5.30 P . M . Female on. When Startled, she fluttered downward in a half circle as usual but alighted on a branch a few feet above the ground and did not repeat the wounded bird performance. After sitting quietly for a moment, she rose and flew off through the trees. Young of apparently equal size and about as large as Bluebirds, their Shoulders and wings covered with sprouting feathers of a bluishashy color but no trace of any real feathers elsewhere, the beak being still clothed with the yellowish down which was also sparsely scattered over the head and neck. Eyes open to-day. These young sit perfectly motionless. DOVE'S N E S T .

As I approached the Beaver Dam Rapid a little after sunset, I again heard the Red-wings singing in their roost among the tall grass. It was a most perfect reproduction of the early spring concerts and I repeatedly got the "Wild Goose" effect, described by Bolles. A t least a dozen males, all old birds, were thus engaged. As I drew nearer I could hear a multitude of birds fluttering and talking to one another among the reeds. Others were continually arriving, usually in parties of from three or four to seven or eight, never more than a dozen or fifteen. They came from every direction and as a rule flew at a great height (300 to 800 or even 1000 feet) until they were directly above the roost when, setting their wings, they shot down almost perpendicularly with great swiftness, each bird acting independently of its companions during its descent and many describing most beautiful curves, while others simply dropped as straight, nearly, as so many falling stones. There was no preliminary circling to reconnoiter the ground. When a 56 RÜGST OF R E D - w i N G S .

Concord River yard or two above the grass, the wings were beaten forcibly to check the speed and the bird disappeared into the grass. A f t e r the flight had nearly ceased, I Struck the water with my paddle and instantly, with a perfect roar of wings, at least six hundred birds rose into the air. Only a few returned, the greater number breaking up into parties of fifty to one hundred birds each and seeking other resting places. A W E A S E L S W I M S T H E RIVER AT NIGHT.

T h c most interesting

of the day's experiences remains to be told. I was paddHng past the swimming place on my w a y home, keeping the middle of the river (here about 200 feet wide) where a long, narrow belt of wind-ruffled water was still faintly silvered by the light in the western sky, when a small, long, dusky form shot directly across my bows, then turned short about and started back towards the south shore. I whirled the canoe around and followed but although I exerted myself to the utmost I did not at first seem to gain much on the mysterious little creature which skimmed over, rather than cleft through, the water and at a rate of speed which amazed me. Indeed, I thought at first it must be a crippled bird or bat but there was no flapping of wings and very little "wake." The pace told on it at length and just as it had almost gained the shore I got sufKciently near to deal it a hurried blow with the paddle when instantly to my nostrils came the unmistakable foetid odor of a Weasel. It proved to belong to our smaller species, as I made out to my entire satisfaction a moment later when, after recovering partially from my blow, it climbed out on a lily päd and faced me at barely arm's length. I teased it a 57

Concord River little to see if it could be made to dive, which it would not do, and then left it to make the best of its way to land, which it accomplished with much noisy plashing before I was out of hearing. Poor thing! I was sorry to have used it so roughly, but there was no other way of finding out what it was.

July 25, i8p2 BIRDS NOT A F F E C T E D B Y E X T R E M E HEAT.

A t nOOn I W a l k c d OVCf

the farm to note the efTect of the extreme heat on the birds. T o my surprise, they were apparently not in the least depressed by it. Indeed I heard more singing than for a week past at the corresponding hours. . . . After tea I started for the Estabrook woods. As I walked slowly along past Burrills', through the hollow beyond, and up the slope to Clark's, I heard two Song Sparrows, a Robin, a Grass Finch, a Yellow-winged Sparrow and a Quail — just six birds in a distance of nearly a mile! Beyond Dutton's the woods along the Estabrook road were absolutely silent save for an occasional chirp or twitter in the dense foUage near at hand and I did not hear another bird sing until I reached Clark's woods, where, on my arrival at 7.20, two Wood Thrushes were tuning their flutes in low tunes and a Wood Pewee was wailing in the hemlocks under which I seated myself. A few minutes later a Black-billed Cuckoo sang several times. c o v E R T OF WOOD THRUSHES.

I had begun to fear that the Wood

Thrushes were going to disappoint me when (at 7.30) the two

58

Concord River which, up to this time, had been apparently merely rehearsing, burst suddenly into füll song. In a moment others took up the strain until five were singing at once. My companion, inexperienced in such matters, insisted that there were at least a dozen, a delusion natural enough under the circumstances for these birds, as is their habit at such times, kept flitting restlessly from place to place so that, in the course of a minute or two their notes did actually come from at least a dozen dilferent points. The effect was impressive beyond my powers of description. I have heard nothing to equal it before, even in these woods, for not only were the singers more numerous this evening than on previous occasions, but at the height of their concert they literally had the whole field to themselves, not a single note of any other species of bird being heard for the space of ten minutes or more. . . .

July 28, 18^2 As I was passing the Burrills' the calls of Martins attracted my attention and, looking to the eastward, I saw a flock of about a dozen of these birds Aying in circles at a height of several hundred feet over the vineyard on Mr. Merwyn's farm. They seemed to be excited about something and the cause was soon explained when a small Hawk which looked exactly like a Pigeon Hawk suddenly appeared directly among them, Coming from I know not where. For a moment or two it sailed about with them as if it meant them no harm but merely wished to join the flock. YOUNG M A R T I N CAUGHT BY HAWK.

59

Concord River None of the Martins tried, so far as I could see, to avoid it but all continued their slow, easy, circling flight. Perhaps they were too frightened or bewildered to attempt to escape or more probably the majority were young, unaware of the fearful risk they were running as they brushed past the stränge bird in their midst. The latter, secure of his prey, doubtless found a certain savage pleasure in prolonging the moment of his triumph as a Cat plays with her mouse or bird before ending its sufferings. But at length there was a sudden dash, the flock were scattered in every direction, and a single Martin closely pursued by the Hawk disappeared behind a düster of trees. The next instant I heard the screams of the poor victim, at first loud, then fainter, and finally, after a moment of silence, Coming again in feeble, despairing tones as the unfortunate creature drew its last breaths in the grasp of the sharp and relentless talons. As on several former occasions when I have seen a Hawk catch a small bird and have listened to its expiring cries, I was moved by deep pity and fierce wrath to an extent surprising on the part of one who, like myself, has killed thousands of birds without suffering more than an occasional slight qualm. But there is something peculiarly moving and piteous in the voice of a bird in the clutches of a Hawk, a quality of mingled pain and apprehension which the grasp of the human hand seldom or never elicits.

Concord, August END OF T H E siNGiNG SEASON.

18^2

Early in the morning I heard

Song Sparrows singing vigorously but at wide intervals. After 60

Concord River 9 A.M. there was literally no sound from these or other birds during the entire forenoon, nothing in fact save the z-ing monotone of innumerable grasshoppers and the chirping of the crickets. As there was nothing in the weather conditions to account for this universal silence, it is evident that yesterday was Hterally the end of the singing season of the birds about our house, for this is the first morning when the WarbHng Vireo and the Chipping and Song Sparrows have not sung at short intervals during the greater part of the forenoon. Judging by the experience of this season, I conclude that the midsummer silence falls first on the woodlands and thicketbordered fields and lanes, next on the gardens and orchards, and last on the river meadows where the Short-billed Marsh Wrens at least may be counted on to sing for a week or more longer. Perhaps the Goldfinch should be similarly credited to the fields and orchards but he is not common here and curiously enough the few individuals that I have seen of late have not sung at all. The Quail has been wholly silent for a week or more past. I am surprised at this, for I had an impression that his "bob-white" was usually heard through this entire month.

August 21, 18^2 Bow MEADOW. I spent an hour or more sitting on a ledge covered with rock ferns looking out over this pretty little opening. Its appearance is singularly wild and northern, reminding me at all seasons of some of the bogs [?] in Maine or New Brunswick although there is nothing really northern in its flora. The 61

Concord River resemblance is probably due to the abundance of Cassandra [leather leaf ], now dull and rusty in tint, and to the stunted, gnarled character of the scattered birches and pitch pines which, doubtless, get more water than is good for them, although the place is seldom flooded. There are a few Clusters of vivid green high blueberry bushes, sprinkled about, and in places cotton grass rearing its white, flower-like heads which seem to attract the yellow butterflies. The entire opening is encircled by a belt of young but tall and vigorous white pines, gray birches, maples, chestnuts, oaks and hickories with an undergrowth of high blueberries and Clethra [white alder], the latter covered with creamy-white blossoms which loaded the air with their strong fragrance resembling that of tube roses. As I sat looking out through the foliage, I heard Crows cawing and a Quail whistling "bob-white" at short, regulär intervals in the distance towards the west. Near at hand a Jay chucked, a Towhee called, a Cedar Bird lisped. Overhead high against the sulphury white clouds a few Swifts circled, twittering. Once I heard the pink of a Bobolink, passing southward. The dry, Stammering autumn call of Pickering's Hylas came at frequent intervals from the surrounding woods (I heard this autumn call yesterday for the first time this month) and the frying notes of the Cicada were almost incessant, one beginning almost immediately after another had ceased. The grasshoppers and crickets in the meadow supplied a steady volume of mingled low z-ing and chirping which formed as even an undertone or background for the other sounds and which reminded me of the sizzling of damp wood burning. Once a Tree Toad chirruped in low, doubtful tones. Dragon-flies were flitting from stem to 62

Concord River Stern of the Cassandra bushes. The breeze rustled the oak leaves overhead. These were all the sights and sounds that I noted here. August 24, 18^2 MINK SWIMS THE RIVER.

T o Ball's Hill alone at 3 P.M., paddling

most of the way. Near the foot of Beaver Dam Rapid a large Mink crossed the river 100 yards or more in advance of me. I recognized him at once by the large, bushy tail held well out of water and perfectly motionless. A Muskrat will ocasionally carry his tail in much the same way but he is sure to move it every second or so and usually waves or vibrates it incessantly. Another point of difference was the greater space between the head and tail (the back was entirely submerged) of the Mink. A t a distance the tail looked like the head of a second and larger animal following the first closely. This Mink swam much more slowly than the one I saw in the Damsdale pool last May and no faster than a Muskrat. He went ashore very noiselessly, entering a bed of pickerei weed without making any plashing or agitating the stems of the plants as a Muskrat would have done. I did not try to overtake him but on the contrary stopped paddling as soon as I first sighted him and watched him through my glasses. He did not appear to notice me at all.

September 1, 18^2 T o Ball's Hill with C. at 11 A.M., landing at and rambling over Holden's Hill on our way down river.

63

Concord River As WC wcre skirting the eastern base of this Hill, a large broad-winged bird started from an oak and flew out Over the meadow. I did not see it at first but C., who did, thought that it was an Owl. The question was quickly settled in the affirmative by the Crows, who the next moment began cawing frantically and collecting from far and near to assail their hated enemy. Judging by the sound (for we could see nothing through the dense foliage) the chase led first out Over the Great Meadows and then turned back. Finally it became evident that the Owl had alighted in one of the trees at the Southern base of the hill.

C R O w s MOBBING A N OWL.

I advanced slowly and with great caution and presently saw at least thirty Crows in the top of a tall chestnut. Some were sitting quietly on the branches, others hopped or flitted excitedly from branch to brauch, while still others circled just above the top of the tree, occasionally dashing madly down through the foliage. Their cawing was at times almost deafening while at others they would relapse into nearly or quite perfect silence. The clamor usually started abruptly (probably at some movement on the part of the Owl), lasted half a minute or more, and then gradually lessened. At its height it formed a perfect roar of angry sounds which had little of the usual Crow quality, reminding me by turns of the hoarse barking of many large dogs or of the shouting of men. At a distance it was strikingly like the roaring sound of escaping steam. Although I scanned the tree carefully with my glass, I did not see the Owl until at length he flew from among the densest foliage in the very top. Instantly the Crows followed — every one of them — silently for a second or two, then each throat 64

Crows Mobbing an Owl

Concord River pouring forth cries of rage and abuse. Doubtless every expletive known to the Corvine vocabulary was hurled after the big Bubo as he flapped off through the trees. He did not go far this time — only to the crest of the ridge, in fact — where I left him and his sable tormentors to their own devices.

September 7, 18^2 NIGHT SOUNDS.

I spent last night in my canoe on the shore near

the landing. For an hour or more after going to bed (at I o P.M.) I k y awake Hstening for the night sounds but I heard only the rustling of Mice in the leaves, the intermittent rasping of wood borers in the wood-pile near me, the ceaseless monotone of the tree crickets in the birches overhead, and every few minutes the lisping notes of migrating Warblers. The last did not seem to be passing in greater numbers than has been the case during most of the clear nights during the past two weeks, but very possibly there were many Aying at so great a height that their feeble notes did not reach my ears for, as I shall presently relate, the country was flooded with migrants the next morning. After sleeping soundly through the night, I awoke just as day was breaking. There was no fog save a very little lying dose to the surface of the water. The east was all aglow with rosy light while the moon, low down in the west, still sent its pale rays through openings in the foliage and silvered the sleeping meadows. SNIPE DRUMS.

The first sound that I heard was the whistling of

Ducks' wings. Then suddenly from directly overhead and with

65

Concord River startling clearness came the weird humming of a Snipe, and after an interval of a few seconds, during which I had an opportunity to convince myself that I was really awake, the bird drummed again very near me and then flew about low down on the meadow, marking its course by a succession of scaipes. The "drumming" was precisely like that produced by this bird in spring. I have never heard it in autumn before and know of only one instance (communicated to me by Faxon, who heard a Snipe drum in the early evening last September on Rock Meadows) where it has been noted by others. FLIGHT OF BOBOLINKS.

As daylight strengthened, Bobolinks

began chinking and I heard them at frequent intervals until the sun rose, but not afterwards. One and all seemed to be moving southward at a considerable height. Shortly after sunrise I feil asleep and it was 7 A.M. when I again awoke and stepped from my cramped quarters out into the air and sunshine. It was a truly glorious morning, not the least speck of cloud visible in the tender blue dorne overhead, the air as clear as possible, the sunshine bright and warm, every leaf and blade of grass frosted with big dew drops. CANADA NUTHATCH.

A Canada Nuthatch, the first that I have

noted this season, was gleaning its breakfast among the cones of a pitch pine on the hillside above me and every now and then uttering its prolonged nasal whining as if expressing discontent at the quality or quantity of its food. FALL MIGRATIONS.

For threc weeks or more small birds have

been very scarce both as regards species and individuals. As 66

Concord River nearly as I could make out, the region has been gradually but almost completely drained of such summer residents as habitually migrate before this date while few birds from further north have appeared in their places, although there have been many good flights overhead during favorable nights. But this moming witnessed a great change, for the country was simply flooded with small birds and it was evident that a very heavy flight had arrived during the night. Everywhere that I went the thickets, swamps, oak and pine woods were ahve with Warbiers, Sparrows, etc., flitting about singly, in small parties, and in mixed flocks of considerable size. In a comparatively limited space I identified upwards of ten species which I have not hitherto seen at all this month and most of the species which have been on my list were greatly augmented in respect to the number of individuals. A R R i v A L OF A GREAT BiRD-WAVE.

At first — up to lo A.M., perhaps — many of these little strangers showed great restlessness, Aying continually from place to place and sometimes rising high in air by spiral courses as if tempted to resume their journey by broad daylight, but all such venturesome spirits descended again after more or less wide wandering and plunged headlong into the woods or thickets. By noon they were as quiet and reconciled to their surroundings as if they had passed the summer here. M A R S H H A W K ' S LEGS CARRIED S T R E T C H E D OUT B E H I N D DURING

FLiaHT. An adult male Marsh Hawk passed ver)^ near me this afternoon on its way across the river in front of my cabin and I distinctly saw its legs and feet extended backward and pressed 67

Concord River dose against the under side of the tail. I had supposed that all Hawks carried the legs doubled at the tarsal joint and the feet buried in the feathers of the belly or, rather, breast. This bird was skimming over the open water on set wings and in the usual slow, effortless manner. FLOCKS OF NiGHT-HAWKS.

A few minutes after the sun had set

this evening, while I was standing at my landing watching the gorgeous coloring of the clouds in the west, a Night-hawk suddenly appeared nearly overhead, Coming from behind me. Turning quickly I perceived no less than thirteen others, all Aying in the same general direction (towards the west). The flock, for such it evidently was, spread over the whole width (150 yards) of the river and its numbers kept at approximately even distances from one another and flew with a steadiness and directness very unusual to these erratic creatures, although the temptation to turn aside to seize some tempting insect prize was not always resisted and once one chased another back and forth, pursuer and pursued doubling and twisting like startled Snipe. One bird uttered ^everal times a flat, squeaky paap. Evidently these Night-hawks were migrating and following the course of the river. I watched until dark but they did not come back as feeding birds would surely have done. T h e y were followed after a brief interval by a smaller flock of nine individuals. The appearance of the larger body strongly (and strangely) suggested a cavalry charge, despite their slow advances. There was something very impressive in their orderly and deliberate sweep across the glowing sky — a deep earnestness of purpose and untold reserve energy and determination in the mien of 68

Concord River that dusky squadron with its broad front and evenly spaced double ranks. . . . GREAT B i R D - W A V E MOVES ON A T N i G H T F A L L .

Directly night had

fairly fallen, the air became filled with small migrating birds whose lisping and chirping calls to one another were practically incessant. At first I heard only the notes of Warbiers and perhaps Sparrows, also, but after lo o'clock the cries of Thrushes were numerous and frequent. There was no abatement of these sounds up to the time I went to sleep but late in the night I awoke repeatedly and listened in vain for any bird voices. These facts, taken in connection with my experience next day, indicate clearly enough that the big bird-wave which descended on this region this morning resumed its onward sweep to-night as soon as the light had faded from the west and that it was not followed by any considerable movement. It was certainly an unusually well-defined and extensive "rush" for its passage to-night occupied at least four hours and probably much longer. Yet it had wholly ceased long before daybreak. The night was still, clear, and comparatively very warm up to midnight but chilly towards daybreak.

September i^, 1892 T o Ball's Hill by canoe at 3 P.M., sailing most of the way down. A n Osprey and a Kingfisher almost the only birds seen save a Phoebe and a few Song Sparrows. OSPREY CATCHES A TORTOisE.

The Osprey was fishing over the

broad reach opposite Ball's Hill. Poising in one spot at a height 69

Concord River of 20 to 30 feet with body raised, wings flapping quickly but loosely, the strokes directed forward instead of downward, and with the feet and legs hanging down, the big bird scanned the water closely. He swooped five times and plunged three times before he got anything. The last swoop was made beyond some bushes and I did not see the plunge if plunge there was, but when the bird reappeared and flew heavily past me within 100 yards, he held in one foot (the other foot being drawn up and hidden by the plumage) an oblong shining object which I am very sure was a Painted Tortoisel If a fish, it could have been nothing eise than a Horned Pout, for the color was black and shining. The bird flew to a tree on the hül and alighted but took wing again before I could get near. . . . T H E YOUNG DOVES F L Y F R O M T H E N E S T ON B E N S E N ' S K N O L L .

Visiting the Dove's nest in the cedar at 4.15 P.M., I found the two young still in or rather on it, for the nest has long since been trampled into a shapeless platform of twigs. Both birds were Standing erect on their legs (heretofore they have always crouched or squatted on their bellies) with heads and necks stretched up. Their erect attitudes and alert, wary expression, together with the fact that, as I approached, I could see that all the down had disappeared from their heads and that their plumage appeared to be perfected, prepared me in a measure for what followed, although it was still a surprise. When I was within two or three yards of the tree, one bird Started and gathering headway by a few vigorous strokes of the wings, which produced a clapping noise similar to that made by domestic Pigeons, it darted olT with all the apparent ease and 70

Concord River swiftness of an old bird and was soon lost to sight behind a pine around which it curved sharply. The other young bird immediately followed, taking exactly the same course. Beyond the pine, behind which I lost them, was open ground for thirty or forty yards and on the further side of this pitch pine woods in which they doubtless found concealment. The total distance flown was fully i oo yards. Both birds were still rising when I saw them last. There was not the least hesitation or feebleness in their flight. When it is considered that this must have been the first time that they had ever used their wings (I have never known any young bird return to its nest after once fairly leaving it) and that their parents (I did not see either of the old birds) were not present to guide and encourage them, it is indeed remarkable that they should have launched into the air with such entire apparent confidence and should have flown so swiftly and so far. What I expected was to see them flutter clumsily for a few yards and then come to the ground or strike into the branches of the nearest tree. The sharp, decided turn around the pine was especially impressive. Their wings produced none of the whistling sound made by old birds; after the preliminary flapping there was only a fluttering like that of a young Grouse. The nest was very foul indeed; in fact, the entire top of the platform was a sticky mass of excrement. It will be remembered that I found this nest August 26 when it held two eggs which looked dark and were evidently far advanced in incubation. T h e y were replaced by two young birds on my next visit, August 30. The female (I did not once see the male near this nest) was invariably brooding the young whenever I looked at the nest up to September 8th, when the

71

Concord River young were two-thirds grown. I did not once see the mother bird after this date, although I watched the nest twice for more than an hour. September

18^2

Spcnt the forenoon in the Estabrook woods with Mr. Buttrick. We started in past Mr. Pratt's, followed the wood-path through the "common lot" to "Hubbard Pastures" where we "salted" the cows, kept on beyond to the head of Ash Swamp, and returned by the Estabrook Road and Derby's Lane. ESTABROOK WOODS.

It was a great day for Blue Jays. I am not sure that I ever saw more within the same time and distance. They were Aying about everywhere in the fields, swamps and in every kind of woodland. I am forced to withdraw what I recorded, a short time since, in disparagement of the Jay's imitation of the screaming of the Red-shouldered Hawk. It is usually shorter than the Hawk's outcry but several times to-day a Jay very near me deceived me perfectly. Once the screams, repeated a dozen or more times, came from the top of a white oak where several Jays were flitting about. Although I saw them, I was not really satisfied that there was not also a Buteo there, until I went to the tree and drove the Jays out. They were imitating this Hawk scream very generally to-day but I heard one bona fide Buteo, also. . . . BLUE J A Y S .

It is a great Squirrel year. The woods to-day were simply alive with Chipmunks and we saw or

ABUNDANCE OF SQUIRRELS.

72

Concord River heard at least a dozen Red Squirrels but met with but one Gray Squirrel, although the last species is said to be also exceptionally numerous. This increase of Squirrels (all three species were very scarce last autumn) is not a local phenomenon, for the Sportsmen's papers report them in great numbers from various parts of New England, the Middle States and the Ohio Valley. In this region it might be accounted for by the exceptionally abundant crop of nuts and berries of all kinds. The Red Squirrels, as I noted the other day, are already eating the chestnuts. In many places to-day we found the ground under these trees literally covered with unopened burrs attached to short pieces of twigs, which showed the marks of the Squirrel's teeth. There are fully two bushels of these burrs under our tree. W e saw the Squirrels carrying them in their mouths and found great heaps of "chankings" on the tops of stumps and walls. The Flicker does not always fly in undulations with intermittent wing-beats. One to-day crossing the Great Meadows flapped continuously and steadily and moved on a perfectly level plane. Until it came nearly over me I mistook it for a Robin. One "galloping" through the air, a few days ago, regularly flapped its wings but once at the beginning of each bound, then closed them tightly while its body described the usual curve. Perhaps the single wing-beat between the curves is the rule. I must investigate this.

September 50, A little before noon I was standing on the edge of the short canal at Ball's Hill which I had cut under the maples near MiNK.

73

Concord River my cabin to serve as a canoe landing, when there was a sharp rustle among the fallen leaves under the button bushes on the edge of the river and a Mink bounded into sight and crossed the Space of bare ground to the brink of the canal where within less than six feet of me he paused, evidently suspicious of danger but apparently not seeing me. I could see his nose work like a dog's and his small, bead-like, expressionless eyes blink and twinkle as he raised his head and moved it from side to side, up and down with a curious rolling motion. The next instant he whirled and galloped back into the button bushes, but as I did not move he soon reappeared and came warily to the canal again; but when he turned back a second time he ran out of sight and sound without stopping. As nearly as I could make out, he scented but did not see me. The Mink appears to have very poor eyesight, at least by daylight. This one was a young animal, nearly grown, of a uniform rieh and rather dark brown, without a trace of the usual white on the chin and breast.

OCtoher 4, 18^2 George brought my horse at 9 A.M. and with C. I drove to Bedford over the river road and back by way of Carlisle Bridge to Ball's Hill which we reached at 11 o'clock. George took the boat down and we came back in it, starting at sunset and arriving at the house as it was getting dark. . . . Marsh Hawks were exceptionally numerous. Unless the same birds showed themselves more than once, we saw at least six or seven of which two were old males. One of the MARSH H A W K .

74

Concord River latter was acting in a singular manner. Flying in broad circles Over a wooded Hill (Bensen's Knoll) at an average height above the tree tops of perhaps fifty feet, he moved his wings in a loose, fluttering way, each upward stroke carrying the tips straight up so that they almost met above his back, the downward strokes being correspondingly (or nearly so) pronounced. The wing beats were curiously moth-like and also suggested the fluttering of a Hawk caught in a trap. They did not raise the bird perceptibly but on the contrary his course was as level and gliding as if he were gliding on set wings. At first I suspected that he was wounded —perhaps shot through the head and "towering" — but a moment's Observation convinced me that such was not the case. After circling over the same spot for at least two minutes, he scaled off on a downward slant towards the meadows. I have never seen a Marsh Hawk behave thus before at any season. The fluttering was practically incessant during the entire period of circling. The circles were not regulär but of varying diameters. The bird did not rise much if at all, excepting at first, when he was Clearing the tops of the trees. Wright showed me some Baldwin apples which had been attacked by Crows, he said. Each apple had a hole an inch or more in diameter pecked in the side to the core. In many cases the hole extended through to the other side. The core with its seeds seemed to have been removed in every instance. W . thought that more than half the apples on one tree had been thus treated. He has seen a large number of Crows in the tree for several days lately. He has never known CROWS PECKiNG APPLES.

75

Concord River nor heard of Crows attacking apples before. These are still green or at least hard and unripe. I saw one flock of 29 Crows this morning, Aying south-west low down and probably migrating. The number of scattered birds was about as usual. . . .

October 6, 18^2 Fairhaven by boat with C[hapman], starting at I o A.M. and getting home about dark. I had a very hard row as far as Clamshell Hill, beyond which we sailed, using an umbrella for this purpose. W e landed at Conantum and lunched at the foot of Lee's Cliff under a pine where the sun lay warm on the carpet of freshly fallen needles (the white pines have nearly finished shedding) and scarce a breath of the chill wind reached us. A few crickets were chirping feebly about us and a small yellow butterfly was driven by the wind across the Bay. . . . LEE'S CLIFF.

TO

The return voyage was very pleasant despite the wind which, although less than in the morning, was still strong and penetrating. The autumn tints were very brilliant wherever there were red maples, in fact I have never seen these trees more intensely colored than they are now. Along the meadow edge of the Conantum woods they formed a belt of gleaming scarlet, crimson and gold most effectively brought out and intensified by contrast with the perfect green of the oaks and pines which Cover the hillside behind and above them. Most of the bright coloring on Martha's Point was supplied by the hickories which have now generally put on their old gold tints. 76

Concord River This was a Hawk day. I saw seven Sharp-shins, two Cooper's, three Marsh Hawks, one Pigeon Hawk, two Red-shouldered and one Red-tailed Hawk. With the exception of one of the Red-shouldered, which was perched on a tree, all these birds were Aying, not in any one direction but scaling, soaring in circles, or beating up against the strong wind, by short vertical tacks, now rising to meet the blasts or to gain sufficient elevation to skim off for half a mile or more on a gentle incline towards the earth. Of course it was a migratory flight — a Hawk wave which had rolled down to us from the north but, as already stated, the birds were not apparently prosecuting their southward journey when seen by me. Nor was there any indication that they were looking for food. They seemed rather to be roaming aimlessly over the country and sporting with the high wind. The Sharp-shins soared a great deal more than is usual with them. One bird of this species was an old male in very high plumage. As he swept dose over the water of Fairhaven while I was standing on the cliflF, his back looked as blue almost as that of an old male Marsh Hawk. We saw an unusually fine Marsh Hawk, by the way, beating a small meadow near the river. He looked nearly as white as a Gull and, as on former occasions this autumn, reminded me forcibly of a Gull by his flight. H E A V Y F L i G H T OF H A W K S .

October 8, i8p2 There was a Great Blue Heron on the river this morning, a noble bird but in the young plumage. I Started him first from Wild Rice Island and drove him before GREAT B L U E H E R O N .

77

Concord River me to the Holt where he doubled back. Once he alighted on the top of the bank where the ground was hard and smooth and the grass short. Over this he moved with slow, stately steps towards the water's edge, occasionally stopping and stretching up his long neck to look at me. He reminded me of a Sandhill Crane which he resembled not only in motions but in his nearly uniform bluish ashy coloring — between the blue of the river and sky, as Thoreau says. Poor bird! I hope that a shot which I heard at this bend an hour later did not end his career but I saw nothing of him when I paddled homeward this evening. There is a skeleton of one of these Herons under the pines on Davis's Hill — shot there by some camper, I suppose, and left to rot where it feil! It is indeed sad to think that the few large birds which still visit this river are so mercilessly pursued and wantonly slain. This fine creature, for instance, one evening adding life and interest to the meadows by its picturesque form and imposing flight, the next a heap of Carrion and dishevelled feathers under the pines where it met its fate!

October 12, 18^2 BALLOON SPIDERS.

This was a "gossamer" day. The Balloon

Spiders were voyaging across the landscape in large numbers and the meadows were coated with their shiny silk.

The

Spiders annoyed us somewhat by crawling over us. I M M E N S E FLOCK OF CROWS START ON MIGRATION A T NOON,

At

about 11 A.M., as we were passing Dakin's Hill, an enormous 78

Concord River flock of CroM^s rose from Holden's Meadow and circled about for several minutes, finally returning to the woods and meadow and separating into smaller flocks. I counted them roughly (or rather tried to) and made out their number to be upwards of 200 birds, an unusually large flock. The movement just mentioned was doubtless a "false Start" for about an hour later the whole body mounted to a height of at least a thousand feet and went off due south. Their order of flight was not loose and straggling as is usually the case during migration but in a compact flock, each individual of which had no more horizontal Space than was required for the free use of his wings. There was a good deal of cawing — in fact, it was incessant — but the combined clamor was less than one would expect from so many birds. It cotme to my ears ivith perfect distinctness ivhen the flock had passed beyond my vision, although no obstacles intervened and the air was free from haze. When the birds were rising and circUng over me I heard the cr-r-r-r and cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck

calls frequently (this rendering

was noted on the spot). I do not remember to have seen Crows migrate in this way before. T h e y usually fly in windy weather, low down, and in loose, scattered flocks. The size of this flock was also remarkable.

OCtoher i-], 18^2 GREAT

HORNED OWL

ON

THE

RIVER

MEADOWS

AT

EVENING.

Melvin came down from Carlisle early this morning and together we went down river in the Buttricks' boat for the day.

79

Concord River . . . As we entered the Holt I discovered a large bird perched in the tall white ash (now leafless) on the eastern bank on a short horizontal branch near the top of the tree. In form and attitude it looked much like a Red-tailed Hawk, sitting erect with its attention fixed on the meadow beneath, but I noticed at once that its tail was shorter and more pointed than that of a Buteo and as we got nearer I saw through my glass its erect ear tufts, for it was a Great Horned Owl. I stopped the boat within 30 yards of the foot of the tree and we looked at the fine bird for nearly a minute, taking turns with the glasses and talking in ordinary tones. I also made a good deal of noise with the oars. There was literally nothing between us and the Owl which, indeed, must have watched US from the time we entered the Holt. He must also have heard every sound we made for the air was damp and there was no wind whatever. At length I Struck the side of the boat sharply with an oar and the bird, spreading an imposing breadth of wing, glided off swiftly into the gloom, scaling on set wings after a few slow yet powerful wing-strokes at starting. He went in the direction of Holden's Hill and was doubtless the same bird which the Crows have mobbed there several times this autumn. I cannot understand why the Great Horned Owl should be so much tamer at night than in the day-time. This Holden's Hill bird was as shy as a Buteo when I last saw him in his chestnut woods near noon of a bright day, although a horde of Crows were berating him at the time. It was nearly dark this evening when we found him in the old white ash on the meadows. 80

Osprey

Concord River December 2p, 18^2 With George Carroll took the 10.16 train to West Bedford and crossed the river on the ice to my cabin where I cooked and ate dinner. . . . The river was ahve with men and boys skating during the forenoon. After dinner I put up some "no shooting" signs along the borders of the meadow to the eastward and others in the old woods on the Davis land near Bensen's. In these woods I saw a large Gray Squirrel and a Blue Jay. As we were returning past Bensen's house my attention was attracted by a large, ragged-looking grayish object in the top of an isolated elm which stands in the meadow on the edge of the Davis swamp — about 60 yards from the road. At first glance I took it for a Paper Wasp's nest but, before I could extract my field glasses from my pocket and bring them to bear, it moved slightly and I saw that it was a Barred Owl. Its head was bent forward and its gaze fixed on the ground beneath. Evidently it was on the watch for mice, although the sun was more than an hour high (it was about 3 P.M.) and the light reflected from the snow (which covered most of the meadow) bright, if not actually dazzling to human eyes. Peter, who came from the house to speak with US, told me that the Owl had been Aying about over the meadow, alighting on humps of frozen earth, and had settled in the elm only a few minutes before we emerged from the woods. I now climbed over the wall and advanced slowly down BARRED O W L .

81

Concord River the slope toward the elm. At first the Owl did not seem to notice me but when I came to some snow and my footsteps produced a slight crunching sound the bird instantly turned its head towards me and half opened its wings. I stopped and we stared at each other for a minute or more, the Owl without blinking, his eyes perfectly round and black, his beak of a bright greenish yellow, his plumage everywhere of a faded or grayish brown with profuse and very conspicuous whitish bars and spots. When he turned to face me, a twig penetrated the plumage of his back and springing upward raised a bunch of the scapulars considerably above the surrounding feathers, giving him a ludicrously ragged appearance. Indeed there was nothing firm nor graceful in either his pose or outline. The facial disc, as with most Owls, was very conspicuous. After a little I tried to creep nearer but at the very first step the bird spread his broad wings and flapping them quickly and continuously ten or a dozen times just after leaving his perch gained sufficient impetus to glide a hundred yards or more further before alighting again. His course, during this flight, was at first directly towards the woods but on entering them he turned to the right and, scaling only a few feet above the ground, passed through a belt of densely growing maples and Coming out into an opening beyond, pitched sharply upward and alighted on an isolated tree. W e traced him easily enough during the entire flight for we stood well above him and the ground in the swamp was covered with snow over which he glided slowly like a great shadow. I have never before Seen a Barred Owl abroad and hunting at midday in this latitude although such an experience is not uncommon in the 82

Concord River South. This bird was quite alert as a Hawk. He flew from the elm when I was fully 50 yards away. I did not follow him into the swamp. I afterwards learned that Mr. Hansen saw this Owl in the same place nearly every day up to February i, 1893. W e recrossed the river a little before sunset and took the 4.16 train for home.

April 2, 18PS BIRDS HEARD AT DAYBREAK.

Hoffmann and I spent a quiet, un-

eventful night in the little log cabin at Ball's Hill. W e rose this morning at daylight and found the sky perfectly clear, the air much cooler with a north-west wind which came in puffs, forerunners of the gale that blew most of the day.

Song

Sparrows were singing when we stepped out of the door and a Red-wing soon joined them. Next, the solemn, bell-like voice of a Carolina Dove came from the Bedford shore. W e scrambled up past the cabin to the top of the hill. T w o Tree Sparrows were singing delightfully in the alders on the edge of the swamp and a Blue Jay giving the bell note near them. The song of a Robin came faintly from the direction of Bensen's house and that of another more distinctly from across the river. . . . MARSH H A W K S .

W e saw two fine white male Marsh Hawks

and one female coursing about the fields and meadows. At about sunset, as one of the males was passing Ball's Hill well over towards the Bedford shore, I began squeaking.

The bird

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Concord River turned instantly and with the usual long, steady wing beats came directly towards me. I could see him only dimly through the bushes until he came to the line of alders in front of the cabin, where he rose above them and, discovering me, sheered upwards and then turned back, twisting and doubling like a Snipe as he darted off in evident great alarm. He was within 20 yards of me when he made the turn and I distinctly saw his eyes and facial disc. I observed to-day that this species while scaling holds the wings at an upward angle like the Turkey Buzzard. Carolina Doves were cooing at intervals during the entire day, despite the raw and blustering wind. I heard one at 11 A.M. when even the Song Sparrows were silent. There were two answering each other on the Bedford shore soon after sunrise. Thus far I have seen no pairs. W e started a Single bird this afternoon among the pines on Bensen's Hill. The voice of this Dove when heard at a distance is strikingly bell-like. Hoffmann remarked this fact when one was cooing this morning on the opposite side of the river. CAROLINA

DOVES.

Most of the Black Ducks appear to have left. We saw only three, a single bird and two together. The latter came in over Great Meadows and alighted in the open water. Just before descending, they sailed in a large circle on set wings. B L A C K DUCKS.

GOOSANDERS.

Only three Goosanders were seen all day. They

flew up and down the river, passing us several times, but not alighting within the ränge of our sight. T w o were gray birds, 84

Concord River the third a fine drake which sometimes led, sometimes followed his companions. The wing beats of the Goosander are invaribly rapid and steady and the flight, although heavy, is very swift, giving the Impression of great momentum. The bird cannot sheer quickly when under füll headway and is probably incapable of the sudden upward springs or circling evolutions which the broader-winged, slower-flapping Black Duck and Mallard perform so readily. Although WC Started no Partridges during our rambles, we saw their droppings, many of which were apparently quite fresh, in extraordinary abundance throughout my woods. In one place a bird had evidently passed the night on the ground in the middle of a foot path probably under the snow, which had afterwards melted. The droppings lay in a circular heap of about the size and shape of an inverted tea-cup. The number of droppings which a single Partridge will deposit in one night is simply remarkable.

R U F F E D GROUSE.

George Holden, who paid us a visit at about noon, told me that he saw a bevy of seven Quail in the road near his father's house just before the last great snow storm and several days afterwards he noticed their tracks near the same spot. He thinks that they probably survived the deep snows of February but neither he nor any one eise with whom I have talked here has actually seen any Quail since the snow melted. QUAiL.

Mr. Buttrick reports seeing two very large flocks of Canada Geese passing northward at about 8.30 yesterday (April i ) morning. These flocks were less than half-a-mile

GEESE.

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Concord River apart and were of approximately equal size, each containing fully loo birds. T w o hundred Geese in sight at once is a rare spectacle in these days. Still no Flickcrs! What can have become of them? The total absence of their shouting calls is a sad lack these spring days. coLAPTES STILL MissiNG.

April 7, A carpenter came from Cambridge to work on the canoes and I spent most of the forenoon with or near him at the river landing. T o my great surprise, the Farm was simply alive with birds the entire morning. Either there was a great rush of migrants last night or, what seems more probable, they came yesterday while I was at Cambridge. Most of them were Sparrows, Fox, Tree and Song Sparrows and Juncos, banded together in a flock containing upwards of fifty individuals. They fed on the ground among the blackberry bushes and drifted back and forth across the river, visiting the pines near the North Bridge several times. There were ten or a dozen Fox Sparrows in this flock. When on the ground, they worked busily and in perfect silence, kicking the leaves behind them by a succession of vigorous backward flings of the feet. When started, they would fly to the nearest bushes or apple tree and, sitting motionless, utter the strong lisping chirp which is so characteristic of the species. This chirp can be at once distinguished from that of any other HEAVY FLiGHT OF SPARROWS.

86

Concord River Sparrow except Pooecetes [Vesper Sparrow], which makes a closely similar but slightly feebler sound. None of these Fox Sparrows sang when they were in the open but, once safely sheltered among the pines, they sent forth burst after burst of their rieh music. The young man who came to see me last evening counted 37 Robins on the trip to and from Fairhaven yesterday. This morning they were in great abundance about Our house. I saw five, apparently all males, squabbling together in the top of an apple tree, making a squealing noise very like that of a Robin in the clutches of a Hawk. Düring the snowstorm in the afternoon, several birds visited the bittersweet vine on the shed to feed on the berries. It is evident that the bulk of the Robins did not reach here this spring until yesterday or the day before. Our summer birds have now probably all come and with them, perhaps, some migrants bound still further north. A RUSH OF ROBiNS.

A pretty little female Sparrow Hawk spent the forenoon in our orchard. Perched on the topmost twig of an apple tree, her head drawn down between her shoulders, her gaze directed steadily towards the ground, she would sit almost perfectly motionless for ten or fifteen minutes at a time, doubtless watching for mice. I was much interested to observe that a dozen or more Sparrows (Juncos, Song and Fox Sparrows) which were feeding within a few yards of the tree showed not the slightest fear of the Sparrow Hawk, nor did the latter once appear to notice them. The Hawk was rather shy, taking SPARROW HAWK.

87

Concord River short flights as I advanced towards her and not permitting me to approach much nearer than 70 or 80 yards. On approaching her perch, she invariably dipped down well towards the ground and then shot upwards, dropping her feet and closing her wings at the same instant, performing this with admirable ease and grace. Once she alighted on a fence post. A Sharp-shinned Hawk, a large female, also appeared over the fields but did not alight, merely scaling across the fields to the grove of pines beyond the North Bridge. In the afternoon meadows over which the and I fear that some of the that Our laws should allow is so rapidly decreasing. SNIPE.

there was much shooting on the Snipe were drumming last evening poor birds feil victims. It is a shame this spring shooting of a bird which

A large flock of Bronzed Grackles visited the Farm early in the forenoon, coming and going several times and descending to the com stubble to feed, as they used to do years ago, on our place in Cambridge. A t first there were sixteen birds in the flock, but afterwards the number increased to twenty-seven which probably represents the total colony that breed in the pines on the Hoar place every season. BRONZED GRACKLES.

A small yellowish bird which passed me in the orchard, flitting along in a jerky manner dose to the ground, was almost unquestionably a Yellow Palm Warbier, but I did not identify it positively. DERBY'S L A N E .

Late in the afternoon I walked to Derby's

Lane. It was still snowing fast and fully five inches of damp 88

Concord River snow covered the g r o u n d , m a k i n g the W a l k i n g laborious a n d very slippery. The wind was south-east and of moderate strength. Derby's Lane was never more beautiful than when I entered it this afternoon, but it looked even more wintry than the spotless fields. The pines and hemlocks were laden with snow and fine snow-dust blown from their upper branches filled the air and sifted down over everything below. The path was trackless save where a dog (a hound that I heard baying in the distance, probably) had crossed it and a Gray Squirrel ventured out a few feet to dig for a buried nut. Two Crows came circling over me, cawing angrily as if they were already nesting, and a Red-tailed Hawk flapped hurriedly from the upper branches of a pine and made oJff through the snow-obscured air over the meadow on the left. These were the only birds that I saw or heard in the woods.

April 8,

4 P . M . FOX SPARROWS. It is raining hard and thundering loudly yet a dozen or more Fox Sparrows with as many Juncos and Song Sparrows are feeding on the hemp seed in front of my door. The delicate blue-gray of the Juncos contrasts pleasingly with the rieh tawny of the Fox Sparrows. The latter are rather quarrelsome birds, driving away the Juncos and Song Sparrows and tilting at each other with open bills and trailing wings. Occasionally two mount straight up ten or fifteen feet, head to

CABiN,

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Concord River head, striking at each other with their bills. N o w a male sings gloriously in the rain. On my way up river a little before sunset, I saw a small bunch of Black Ducks Aying in the distance and heard a Red-shouldered Hawk screaming near Hunt's Landing. Red-wings were very numerous and singing freely. The hordes of Fox, Tree and Song Sparrows on the Farm this morning seemed to have wholly departed. The snow had all gone, also, and the fields were bare and brown. The grass in front of the house was slightly tinged with green this evening. After tea I walked to and across Red Bridge to the meadow where my young friend heard the Snipe drumming on the evening of the 6th. The birds were there to-night for I heard at least two and I think three rise and fly about scaiping, but none of them drummed although the night was clear and very warm with a light south-west wind — just the right conditions. Twice, however, I heard a Snipe cackle. Once the bird was within 50 yards or less, either on the ground or skimming dose over it. In each instance the sound consisted of a series of cacs, very like the call note of the Red-wing but more husky, repeated on the first occasion five and on the second, seven times. It reminded me also of the pig call of the Virginia Rail but the notes were delivered more slowly and were all on the same key. The scaipe cry of the Snipe may be very closely imitated by drawing a fine file across the end of a small iron wire. WILSON'S SNIPE.

A dozen or more Pickering's Hylas were piping near Egg Rock. I have heard only one before — on the ist. HYLAS.

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Concord River April 21, RED-SHOULDERED H A W K .

At

2 P.M.

I Started down river in the

open canoe and sailed most of the way, dose hauled, to Ball's Hill. A Red-shouldered Hawk soaring and screaming over the knoll near Hunt's Landing suddenly closed its wings and shot down like a falling rocket into the pitch pines, descending about loo feet. I landed and looked for a nest but could find nothing but a G r a y Squirrel's nest. It is a mystery where these Hawks are breeding. I see one or both daily near this knoll. Sometimes they circle screaming above Ripley's Hill within hearing of the Buttricks'. . . . K E N S K I L L E D BY A H A W K (COOPER'S) .

While talking with Bensen

I noticed some tufts of white hen's feathers scattered about on the ground within a few yards of his shed. He told me that something had killed a hen there about 4 days ago and had taken it away. T h e next day more feathers found near the bars below the barn and another hen missing. Yesterday morning a "very large gray H a w k " appeared and pounced on a hen near some bushes about 50 yards west of the barn. Before Bensen could get to the spot, the hawk had killed the hen and "eaten her head off." Bensen drove a peg in the ground and, tying the hen to it, set a Steel trap on her body. He said it had not been disturbed but when he took me to the spot we found the trap sprung and the hen and peg gone. The jaws of the trap showed no trace of feathers or hair. The only Hawk (besides Marsh Hawks) which I have seen near this form of late is a male Cooper's which haunts the pines

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Concord River above my glacial hollow where I think he intends breeding. He scaled into these pines this afternoon as I was passing, uttering a succession of the mewing, Jay-like cries which I have recently described. Can he be the robber? He might perhaps kill a fullgrown hen but surely he could not carry one off! Marsh Hawks must be migrating still, for I saw three this afternoon, a fine white male and two females. The latter were hunting in Company, something I never witnessed at this season before.

MARSH HAWKS.

It was a great day for Pine Warbiers. I heard two singing on the pitch pines on Hunt's knoll and at least four more in the Ball's Hill region besides the one (a male) in the apple tree with the Yellow Palm Warbiers. The Pine Warbler's song is a true trill, very musical and pretty, with a soothing quality perhaps derived from association with the sound of wind in the pines which so often accompanies it. piNE WARBLERS.

In the white pines on Bensen's knoll I found two Chickadees accompanied by a Golden-crested Kinglet with a Ruby-crown chattering not far off, also in a white pine. When I first heard the chatter faintly through intervening trees, I mistook it for the scolding of a Winter Wren, There is certainly some resemblance, though this fact never occurred to me before. RUBY-CROWNED KiNGLET.

A I was Walking slowly along a path through these pines, making no noise and so perfectly screened from the river that I could only just catch the glimmer of the water, I GOOSANDERS.

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Concord River heard a great flapping of wings on the water near the shore below the ridge. Rushing out into the open, I saw a pair of Goosanders Aying swiftly off down river past Davis's Hill. It is remarkable that they could have discovered my presence under these conditions, but such was evidently the fact for there was no other visible cause for alarm on their part. They are singularly alert, wary creatures at this season, much more so in fact than Black Ducks. After cooking and eating supper in the cabin, I started for the Buttricks' just as it was getting dark. A fine fresh easterly wind had risen and, hoisting the sail, I sped swiftly Over the Great Meadows. A Dove shot past and skimmed Over the crest of Ball's Hill. Robins and Red-wings were singing and I heard a Swamp Sparrow chirping in a flooded thicket. The piping of Hylas, mingled with the snoring of Leopard Frogs and the rough croaking of Wood Frogs, rose from every side of the broad sheet of water, swelling and sinking alternately but never ceasing for an instant. Suddenly a steadily increasing, low, muffled whistling of wings came from behind me and the next moment five Scaup Ducks (Greater Scaups, I thought) followed closely by four more, passed overhead flying very swiftly and soon disappearing in the gloom. . . . BiRDS A T EVENiNG.

Cambridge, May p,

It was perfectly calm and almost oppressively warm when, a little after 8 o'clock this morning, I stepped out into the gar93

Concord River den. For the first half hour I heard only a Yellow Warbier, a Chippy, and Robins singing. But a little before 9 A.M. I added three birds to my list, an Oriole fluting in the horse chestnut at the Corner of Sparks Street, a Red-start singing in Mr. Hubbard's grounds, and a Lincoln's Finch in the garden. After listening to the Oriole and Red-start for a few minutes, I passed through the house and opened the back door when an unfamiliar song came at once to my ears. It was uttered four or five times in succession, at short intervals, very near me, while I stood listening, completely puzzled. The bird was evidently in the düster of lilacs scarce ten yards away but although these bushes were practically leafless I could see nothing in them. I moved cautiously around them and at length discovered a Lincoln's Sparrow sitting motionless, bolt upright, in the top of the tallest lilac. He saw me, also, and began to flit shyly from twig to twig away from me, keeping his crest erected. He did not get far before a workman, stumping noisily along the walk on the further side of the thicket, alarmed him seriously and he flew across the lawn to Mr. Spelman's shrubbery. I could find no other bird in or near the lilacs and there can be no doubt that this was my mysterious singer whose füll song I now know for the first time. SONG OF LINCOLN'S F I N C H .

It began with a succession of five or six low, wiry, lisping notes much like those of the prelude of the song of the Rubycrowned Kinglet and ended with a rieh, liquid warble resembling the gushing song of the House Wren but still more closely that of the Mourning Warbler. There was nothing about it that bore the least resemblance to the song of the Song Sparrow, 94

Concord River but the terminal notes had something of the quality of those of the Swamp Sparrow, although they scarcely suggested them. The song was not loud — indeed could not have been heard more than fifty yards away but the bird was apparently not exciting himself and perhaps was singing sotto voce, although I have no doubt that he gave the finished song of the breeding season. At IO A . M . Edwaid (who has taken George's place to-day) brought Charlie in the old buggy and we started for Concord. It was oppressively warm, the slight breeze Coming from behind. As we drove slowly along past Mt. Auburn and the Payson place, I heard Least Flycatchers and Yellow Warblers singing in the apple orchards on every side. Near the Lyman place a Yellow-throated Vireo was in füll song in large ash trees over the street and another was heard in Weston. The first Kingbird was seen in South Lincoln and between there and Concord a dozen or more were noted including several pairs. I heard only one Warbling Vireo and saw only three or four Thrashers and one Towhee. A Yellow-rump Warbier singing on oak scrub. Least Flycatchers exceptionally numerous the entire distance. A colony of a dozen or more Martins in Lincoln. Black and White Creepers wherever there were woods and near Waiden two Black-throated Green Warblers singing. No Bobolinks nor Meadow Larks. Several Whitethroated Sparrows along the roadside. DRIVE FROM CAMBRIDGE TO CONCORD.

In South Lincoln (near Ehlert's where we called to see the dogs) we saw four Carolina Doves in the fields far from any woods. The first were two mated birds which rose from the 95

Concord River road and alighted just over the fence. The next was a single bird which crossed the road Aying very swiftly. The fourth bird was Walking along the edge of a rain-water pool in ploughed land. Orioles had evidently arrived in force last night. Besides the one in Cambridge we saw three together in Weston, two Single birds in Lincoln and two in Concord. All were males. There was only one really fine plumaged bird among them and two (one of which was the Cambridge bird) were very dull colored indeed. My early cherry tree had only three blossoms fully open when I left Cambridge this morning, so the Orioles for once have arrived before the cherry trees are in bloom. (Faxon saw 5 in Arlington to-day, this being his first record.) ORIOLES.

Vegetation generally is still remarkably backward. The only trees along the country roads which are as yet decidedly green are the willows, rum cherries, paper and black birches — all of which are covered with partially unfolded leaves. Benzoin is in bloom but not the shad bush. The maples are still in füll bloom. W e reached Concord at i P.M. After dinner I started for Ball's Hill in the Stella Maris canoe. The heavy rains of last week raised the river four or five feet and the water was actually higher than in March. The river banks were everywhere submerged and I crossed them a little below Lang's landing and setting sail stood down over the Great Meadow dose hauled to the south-east breeze. After leaving my things at the cabin I kept on to Bedford swamp where I landed and walked through the grove of big pines. N o signs of the Red-tailed Hawks or their nest. The only small bird singing was a Mniotilta. At Ball's 96

Concord River Hill I heard another Mniotilta, but nothing eise. I did not go beyond the cabin, however. There were no Red-wings along the river but I saw several large flocks whirling about over the field on the Bedford shore. One flock which alighted in a maple near the water contained 12 females and 15 males. These are the first females that I have Seen. At 5.3O I Started for home, sailing back across Great Meadow. The Bittern driven from his usual haunts by the high water was pumping in the little brook meadow east of Ripley's Hill. Yellow Warbiers were singing among the submerged river thickets and two Bobolinks near the Buttricks'. I saw no water fowl of any kind. A Marsh Hawk passed near Ball's Hill and two Cooper's Hawks near Flint's Bridge. BIRDS S E E N ON T H E RIVER A T E V E N I N G .

May 18, There are this season, as nearly as we could estimate their numbers to-day, at least six, probably eight or ten, and possibly as many as twelve pairs of Grebes breeding in the reservoir pond. They inhabit every part of it and move about a good deal, appearing and disappearing in the spaces of open water; but it seemed to me that each pair confined their roving within certain limits. With the exception of a female with young, all were very shy and suspicious, showing themselves in the open water only when all was quiet about p i E D - B i L L E D GREBES.

97

Concord River the pond and, if they caught sight of us on shore, sinking quietly beneath the water and seeking the dense depths of the thickets of button bushes. W h e n not alarmed or apprehensive, they swam about boldly in the open water, sometimes approaching within a few yards of the shore and diving a great deal for food. At times they floated as high out of water as Ducks and looked nearly as large as Black Ducks. The shape and carriage of the head and neck reminded us continually of that of the Loon. Every now and then one would call co-co-co-co-co-cokeough, keough, keough, the series of notes varying from ten or a dozen to twenty or twenty-five. This series, in both form and tone, resembled that of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but the notes are all louder and the keoughs deeper and hollower. This call was almost invariably answered by another Grebe and frequently three or four would cry out in quick succession from various parts of the pond. Another sound, less frequently given but still not uncommon, resembled somewhat the whinney of a horse. Faxon describes it as a "crooning" sound. Still another cry was a monosyllable toot, something like a short blast on a deep-toned willow whistle. This we heard only from a bird, presumably a female, which was accompanied by several young and Faxon thinks that it is given only by the mother bird when anxious about her young. He has heard it several times before, always from a bird with young. It is wholly unlike the other two cries and in tone reminded me of one of the calls of the Gallinule. On this occasion the Grebe started out of some button bushes near a mass of floating Vegetation which looked like a Grebe's nest but which we could not get very dose to with our clumsy 98

Concord River boat. She swam a f e w yards and then dove, leaving a chick on the surface. The chick then dove and soon aftenvards came up in nearly the same place where the mother bird also reappeared and swam directly to him. When she reached him, she stopped and turned and he at once scrambled under her closed wing to her back. I now saw that there were at least two or three more young on her back, nearly over the flanks. She kept the tips of her wings folded over them, practically concealing them, but they raised their heads at intervals and writhed or nestled about. Their bills appeared to be white, with a dark bar near the tip. T h e y were covered with black or blackish down and were of about the size of newly hatched chickens. The old Grebe kept cruising back and forth within about 20 yards of us in open water for five or six minutes, tooting incessantly, but not again diving. Finally she swam into the button bushes and disappeared. Just before this, another Grebe — her mate, probably — answered her toot several times with a precisely similar call and showed himself near us, diving, however, as soon as we caught sight of him. The female, while cruising back and forth, sat high on the water and carried her neck erect and stretched up to its füll length. She was in füll breeding plumage with black throat and gray neck. Faxon saw the first Grebes in this pond this season the day after the tce njoent out\ Their presence is widely known to the people of Lexington and to the passengers and trainmen of the railroad which skirts the edge of the pond, by most of whom they are called "Dipper Ducks." T h e y are so wary, however, and their button bush fastnesses are so difficult of access that 99

Concord River they are probably reasonably safe from persecution. Faxon first found them in 1891. Just when they began breeding in this pond is unknown to us. Faxon and I to-day heard two Least Bitterns cooing in the upper Arlington reservoir where the Grebes breed. Both were among cat-tails, one at the inlet, the other on an island in the pond about 300 yards from the inlet. The latter bird cooed at frequent intervals during the entire day. When we first heard him, he was near the southern extremity of the island in a bed of broken-down, last year's flags which covered an area only a few yards square. After fixing the spot from whence the sound came with all possible accuracy and most satisfactorily, I sculled the boat to it slowly and silently and just as the bow was on the point of crashing into the flags the Bittern, a beautiful male with steel blue back and crown, rose from a bunch of flags within 15 or twenty feet of us and directly ahead of the boat. L E A S T BITTERN.

The island was here only a few yards across and almost the only shelter it afforded was the düster of cat-tail whence the Bittern sprang. W e could find no other bird near except a Florida Gallinule which swam out of the bushes twenty or thirty yards from where we found the Bittern and which we had previously heard repeatedly making its own characteristic cries. Faxon and I were both perfectly satisfied with the strong evidence obtained on this occasion that the Least Bittern is the author of the cooing. This, to-day, when we were near (i.e. within 40 yards of the bird) had the same deep, hollow, somewhat raucous quality that I noticed last year at Ball's Hill. T o 100

Crows in Winter

Concord River day our bird usually uttered five notes, co-co-co, cd-co, with a slight pause after the third and a distinct accent on the fourth. Previous to to-day Faxon had no knowledge of the presence of Least Bitterns on this pond. As he has spent many days there during the past two seasons without either seeing or hearing them, it seems probable that they are recent acquisitions to the place. FLORIDA

GALLiNULES.

Faxon is very sure that he heard a

Florida Gallinule call in the Reservoir Pond one day (May 13th) last year. This season he saw one there on the 9th of May and on several occasions since. To-day we heard and saw two, a male and female, doubtless mated birds as they were both in the same place, a long, narrow belt of button bushes intermingled with cat-tail flags. The male was very bold and fearless, showing himself freely outside the bushes, frequently swimming out into the middle of a broad space of open water and twice crossing it to the shore of the upland where he fed among some sparse-growing flags that afforded him no real concealment. Once he climbed quickly up into a leafless button bush and, perching on a branch about three feet above the water, spent some time there, preening his feathers and dozing, sitting in a crouching attitude with neck drawn in and feathers rufiled, looking precisely like a small black hen on the roost. On the water he was a most graceful and beautiful creature, especially when feeding, for then the slender head and neck were continually in motion, nodding at each stroke of the feet and waving to and fro with sinuous, snake-like curves. The scarlet frontal seemed even larger and more brilliant than in the lOI

Concord River bird which we watched in the Fresh Pond swamps in 1890. W e satisfied ourselves to-day that there is no inflation of this part but the red appeared co vary much in depth and brilliancy, from time to time, and we suspected that these variations were under the bird's control, The head in profile presented the appearance of having been sliced off on the forehead, but perhaps this is merely because of the absence of feathers on this part. This male GaUinule was one of the tarnest water fowl I have ever seen. When it was feeding near shore, we walked down to the water's edge and sat down on a rock within less than 40 feet of it without apparently causing it any alarm. It scarcely noticed a train which thundered past on the railroad that skirts the pond and when we shouted and clapped our hands it merely looked at us with mild curiosity. It has probably become accustomed to sights and sounds of man, for there is much passing about the shores of this pond and several houses near by. When swimming, this bird moved quite as rapidly as a Coot and nodded the head and neck in precisely the same manner. It was silent during the half hour or more that we sat on the rick watching it, but this morning we heard it give the long cuc-cuc outcry, the hen-like crooning, and the frog note. The last was answered by its mate on one occasion. The female appeared to be the shyer, or at least more retiring, of the pair. W e saw her only once distinctly when she ventured out into open water a little distance and then swam along the edge of the bushes for several rods. Her frontal plate was much smaller and its coloring as well as the coloring of the bill much duller than in the male. 102

Concord River The latter had the terminal third of the bill yellow, the remainder of the bill uniform with the frontal space and deep, glowing scarlet [?]. When the bird was standing on a branch, we saw the red on the legs just above the middle joint.

May 22, On May lo I found a Song Sparrow's nest under a tuft of dead grass within a few rods of the cabin. It contained 3 eggs and a fourth was added the next morning. Yesterday at 3 P.M. I flushed the bird and saw all four eggs in the nest. This morning at 8 o'clock I again examined it and found that three eggs had hatched in the Interim. The fourth was unhatched at 4 P.M. to-day and is probably addled. The parent bird was sitting on the loth but if the time of incubation be taken from that of the completion of the set, viz: May i ith, it was in this instance just eleven days. . . . SONG s P A R R O w s ' NESTS.

Yesterday morning when I visited this nest I found two Carter Snakes, one of unusually large size, basking in the sun within less than four feet of the sitting bird, one on each side of her. There are two other Song Sparrows' nests at Ball's Hill, both on the ground under withered grass and both with 5 eggs to-day. The bird belonging to one of these nests invariably flies directly from it to some bushes a few rods off, when started, her flight being in every way normal. The other two birds follow the nearly universal custom of their species and run for several 103

Concord River yards before Aying, skulking behind clods and tufts of grass. One of them half spreads her wings and simulates lameness but not with much realism or energy. W h y should one of these birds fly? Perhaps she has learned that the skulking act does not always deceive. Certainly, as far as I am concerned, the other plan has proved the more successful, for it was not until 1 had flushed her several times that I began to suspect that there was a nest. M y next visit to the nest near the cabin was on May 2 3rd at 3 P.M., when I found the fourth egg hatched. If this egg was the last one laid, as seems probable, it has hatched in just 12 days. The parent bird was absent when I looked at the nest on the 2 3rd, but half an hour later she fleiv from the nest as I passed it. Hitherto she has always run a f e w yards before taking wing. She and her mate have become so accustomed to my presence that they show no anxiety and do not even chirp when I look at the nest. On May 2 9th the young in this nest were fully half-grown and covered with feathers on the back and wings, yet the mother bird was "brooding" them. Their eyes opened either on this day or the 2 8th. KING-BIRD'S NEST.

T h e King-birds that began building on

Honeysuckle Island May 16 have finished their nest. I examined it this evening and found lining and all complete. It is curiously placed in a stout upright fork of a large willow about 4 feet above the water in the center of a düster of upright stems at least 10 feet below the foliage twigs. T h e stems at the fork are as large as my wrist. A Robin might have chosen just such a site.

104

Goncord River May 50, For 2. wcck Ol m o r e a Yellow-throated Vireo has sung in the early morning and at intervals through the day in the elms in front of the house. He seems to spend practically his entire time in these trees. Indeed, I do not remember once hearing him elsewhere in the neighborhood, even in the orchard. This morning it occurred to me to look for the nest and almost at the first glance I discovered it suspended after the usual manner in the fork of a short branch that grew out from one of the big upright stems of the elm about 20 feet above the ground. One of the Vireos, the female, I thought, was on the nest. She sat rather high and kept her head rolHng and peering about in the manner of all Vireos. The male, if in the tree, was silent while I was watching this nest. YELLOW-THROATED viREo's NEST.

Soon after leaving the Yellow-throat's nest, I heard our Warbling Vireo singing in the orchard. Thinking that he might be on the nest, I followed up the sound and directly saw the nest in the very top of a rather tall tree attached to the horizontal twigs of a long, upright^ leafy branch. I could see the bird's head distinctly. He raised it high when he sang and his white throat swelled and flashed in the sunlight. After a few minutes he flew off to a neighboring tree, but I did not see the female take his place. The nest is inaccessible, for the branch is too long and slender to bear my weight. W A R B L i N G VIREO siNGiNG ON T H E N E S T .

This aftemoon I took the Solitary Vireo's nest at Holden's Hill. It contained four eggs slightly

N E S T OF SOLITARY VIREO.

105

Concord River incubated. The female was on. She watched me calmly while I erected a sort of scaffold beneath the tree. When, by means of this, I got within arm's reach of the nest, I put up my hand, touched the bird's tail and then her back Hghtly; but when I attempted to stroke her head, she flew. She and her mate, who now appeared, uttered the scolding chatter but nnade no other sound. Both disappeared soon after I had taken the nest and its Contents.

July

189s

Up river with W . Deane in the forenoon, rowing to Clamshell Hill and sailing thence to Fairhaven, stopping by the way to visit the Marsh Wren's nest near Heath's Bridge. The number of eggs had not been added to since yesterday, so I assumed that the set was complete and took both eggs and nest. The male was singing about sixty yards away when we landed. W e walked directly to the nest and stood within three or four feet of it for a minute or more, talking. Then I stopped to look in, when the female darted out of the entrance hole and dropping to, or nearly to the ground, made off through the grass, probably springing from stem to stem but keeping so well concealed that I could not see her. The trembling of the stems served to trace her route and progress pretty accurately, however. After she had gone a few yards, I rushed after her, when she flushed and flew off slowly and heavily. The Bowles brothers have never started a bird from the nest but in this instance I CISTOTHORUS STELLARIS.

106

Concord River probably surprised the bird by approaching swiftly and silently along the path which I had made during former visits. She came about as we were packing the eggs and uttered her scolding churr but did not again show herseif. Yesterday while I was at the nest she kept Aying from place to place in the grass near me, carrying in her bill something white or whitish about half the size of one of her own eggs. The female of the nest taken at Canton June loth also came about us with a similar whitish object in her bill. At the time we supposed her to be feeding young, but I am very sure there were no young in this Heath Bridge meadow yesterday. It was perfectly easy to see the eggs in this nest — or at least most of them — by merely bending the nest over so that the sunlight could shine in. They looked very transparent and had a decided rosy tinge. I rolled them out of the nest just as I always roll out Long-bill's eggs and with perfect success although Bowles considers it a dangerous experiment. The shells of the eggs, although thinner than those of the Long-bill's, were decidedly thicker than the shell of a Warbler's egg. They had a slight polish before they were blown. . . .

August 5,

I was restless duringr the night and awoke many times. At about 2 A.M. (I did not look at my watch) I was surprised to hear Chimney Swifts twittering outside the window. There seemed to be a good many of them and the sound of their voices indicated that they first CHIMNEY SWIFTS FLYING AT NIGHT.

107

Concord River circled about the house several times and then went ofF towards the South. When I first heard the twittering, there were also several birds making their peculiar rumbling in the chimney, but this soon ceased and was not again repeated. The night was dark and still at the time, with rain falling gently and steadily. My Impression is that these Swifts were starting on migration and that several birds roosting in our chimney emerged and joined the larger throng. . . . BARN s w A L L O w s .

Düring most of the afternoon a number of

Barn Swallows were Aying about over Mr. Keyes's field, coursing dose Over the stubble like hounds searching for a lost trail. It is one of the prettiest sights which the summer brings — these graceful, long-winged, fork-tailed birds, skimming swiftly to and fro, turning and returning abruptly and seldom leaving the boundaries of the field. It carried my thoughts back to boyhood and to England.

August STRANGE BEHAVioR OF A COOPER'S HAWK.

20,

While passing around

the Glacial Hollow this afternoon, we came upon a small inixed flock, consisting of six or seven Chickadees, an Oven-bird, a Solitary Vireo and two young Chestnut-sided Warbiers. They were high up in the pines at first and we had to "screep" a good deal to get them down into good view. Presently a Cooper's Hawk began screaming not far off and the next moment came Aying through the trees and alighted on a low brauch not ten io8

Concord River yards from us and literally in the very midst of the Chickadees and Warbiers, which curiously enough showed neither suspicion nor alarm but went on feeding or flitting about within a f e w feet or yards of their dangerous neighbor. Their confidence proved to be not misplaced, for the Hawk, a young female in fresh autumn plumage, showed no desire to molest them but for a füll minute sat erect and motionless, regarding us with an expression of mingled surprise and suspicion. She then flew quietly away in the direction whence she had come, but the moment we resumed "screeping" she returned and, circling half around us, alighted again. This was repeated half a dozen times or more, the screeping never once failing to bring back the Hawk post haste, although she did not come quite as dose as at first. Her approach was always heralded by a succession of shrill squealing cries {ke-e-e-e)

agreeing in form with those of the young just from

the nest, but louder, more penetrating, and more Jay-like in tone. Chapman thought the bird mistook our "screeping" for the call of its parent, brin^ging food; I, that it was looking for a wounded or entangled bird, which it hoped to capture. It flew directly and when dashing through the trees avoided the dead branches with ease and grace.

September p, iSp^ T o Ball's Hill at 9 A.M. with Mr. Hubbard, taking the two canoes. . . . H E A V Y MIGRATION OF SWIFTS.

Düring the descent of the river

and while at Ball's Hill, we had not seen a single Swift but at 109

Concord River evening as we were paddling past Holden's Hill five of these birds appeared at a great height overhead and began descending and cutting about after their usual fashion. Others followed them and still others, until by the end of the next four or five minutes there were fully 7 5 darting back and forth over the river and woods. They all came from the North, as I could plainly see by watching the sky in that direction, and evidently were migrating birds which merely made a brief halt to secure their evening meal. For the remainder of the way up the river, Swifts were continually in sight, either Aying low and feeding or keeping on directly South at a height of 300 or 400 feet. All those which I saw after sunset were Aying high and towards the South. There can be no doubt that what we witnessed was a veritable migration.

Octoher 27, iS^-} I dined at the cabin and walked through the woods to Holden's Hill in the forenoon — to Davis's Swamp in the afternoon. Met two Aocks of Chickadees and a few Tree Sparrows and started one Partridge. As I was crossing the large opening just north of Ball's Hill Swamp, a Fox trotted out of the bushes into the path not thirty yards from me. I stopped instantly and squeaked a little. He took a few steps towards me, stopped, looked at me a moment without apparent fear, then turned and trotted off along the path through the swamp. As soon as he disappeared among the bushes, I followed, Walking very fast but silently. When I reached the further side of 110 FOX IN WOODS.

Concord River the swamp, I again saw him, still trotting on sedately across an opening. He was a large Fox of somewhat peculiar coloring — a dull yellowish brown with very gray about the head and back. I was Struck by the crafty, almost sinister expression of his face when he looked towards me.

December BiRDS S E E N .

A t Concord I heard in the village a White-breasted

Nuthatch and saw a Shrike among the evergreens near North Bridge. The drive to Bensen's was delightful for the sleighing was perfect and the air crisp and bracing, yet wholly without chill. A few Crows Aying about over the fields, a Brown Creeper in an elm, a Blue Jay flitting through an orchard, and a flock of fully 20 Tree Sparrows along the roadside on the east slope of Punkatassett Hill were the only birds seen by the way. There were 8 or 10 more Tree Sparrows and one Junco feeding in a weed patch just below Bensen's barn. FOX SIGNS.

I walked across the fields to Bensen's Knoll and

thence through the swamp to the cabin. M y Fox had rambled about freely since the snowfall and I found where he had dug out and eaten a mouse and again where he had apparently devoured a rabbit whose für was scattered about in little tufts on the snow. Fox tracks led into and from both entrances to the new earth at the east end of the Ball's Hill ridge and just outside one of the holes lay a Short-tailed Shrew which, although badly mouthed and with the skull crushed to a jelly, was intact. A p III

Concord River parently the Fox had brought it from some distance but why had he taken this trouble since, evidently, he had not cared to eat it? It had been dead several days, at least. . . . SCARCITY OF TRACKS OF S M A L L A N I M A L S .

NO RABBIT TRACKS.

I saw surprisingly few tracks in the woods and fields — those of Gray Squirrels in two or three places, one of a Red Squirrel, one of a Partridge, less than half a dozen Mouse trails and not one of a Rabbit. Can it be that the Rabbits do not ramble about as much at this season or have the Foxes caught them all? I fully expected to find the snow braided all over with their footprints in the Ball's Hill swamp, but it was unmarked save by two Fox trails, both leading straight across.

October //, owL. One of the most interesting experiences of my stay at Concord this autumn happened October 29 with what I took to be a Short-eared OwL Will Stone and I had been passing the day at Ball's Hill and were on our way up river when, as we were approaching the head of Beaver Dam Rapid, a large bird suddenly came out of the gloom which shrouded the meadows on our left (the sun had set half an hour or more before) and after circling over the river alighted on the top of a tall pole which someone had driven into the mud at the water's edge. Here it sat bolt upright for a minute or more, bobbing its head slowly up and down by lengthening and shortening the neck, in the manner of most Owls. Against the strong 112 SHORT-EARED

Concord River afterglow in the west it stood out most distinctly but in Silhouette, showing no colors. Presently it took flight again and skimmed about over the meadows, Aying very gracefully but in an erratic manner very like a big moth or perhaps still more like a Night-hawk, alternately appearing and disappearing as it rose against the light in the west or dipped down dose to the surface of the ground. A f t e r a few minutes it returned to the stake. Its manner of alighting and taking flight was very abrupt and decided. It flew a second time soon after this and did not again return. On the evening of November ist I saw what appeared to be the same bird, beating the meadow at the Holt very much in the manner of a Marsh Hawk and on the next evening an Owl of similar size and appearance started from a maple opposite this meadow as I was passing.

October /j, A severe cold confined me to the house on the i i t h , i2th and 13th. Yesterday was spent in Cambridge and Boston. T o day I went to Ball's Hill. Between 3 P.M. on the i i t h and 8 P.M. on the i3th over five inches of rain feil and the river rose more than three feet, flooding the meadows. The current was very strong this morning and I had a swift passage, using the paddle but lightly. TITLARKS ALIGHT IN TREE.

A t the Holt I saw a flock of about

30 Titlarks alight in the upper branches of a large, leafless " 3

Concord River ash where they sat for several minutes, preening their feathers. If I remember rightly, it is unusual for them to perch in trees. WOOD DUCKS.

O n reaching Holden's Hill, I paddled across

the meadow and was on the point of landing when four W o o d Ducks rose from the water at the edge of the bushes and flew down river towards Ball's Hill where I afterwards started them a second time nearly in front of the cabin. T h e flock consisted of one female, one drake in apparently füll plumage and two young drakes which had about half completed the change from young to mature plumage. FLiGHT NOTES OF THE PARTRiDGE.

While Walking about Over

Holden's Hill, I started a Partridge and heard two G r a y Squirrels barking. A Partridge on rising uttered a low, rolling, murmuring, whistling sound, evidently vocal. T h i s note, which I have heard countless times before but never considered carefully until now, is perfectly distinct from the hurried, metallic quet-quet-quet

which is also a common flight note. T h e former

cry is, I think, usually given when the bird is not much alarmed and when it is about to take only a short flight. T h e quet is oftenest uttered just before the bird takes wing but is frequently continued during the first f e w rods that the bird advances after leaving the ground or tree.

T h e quet

call

indicates unusual alarm and is oftenest given when the bird is surprised. I spent a rather gloomy day at the cabin for it rained steadily most of the time I was there as well as during m y paddle homeward at evening when I neither heard nor saw anything of in114

Concord River terest save a solitary Great Blue Heron which rose from the meadow at the foot of Barrett's Run and winged its w a y off into the gloom. A U T U M N FOLIAGE.

The red maples lost their foliage during the

rain storm of the 13th but since then the birches have turned yellow and some of the scarlet oaks have also attained nearly the perfection of their autumn tints so that the woods are still brilliantly colored in places.

April i6, i8p6 Vegetation advanced with rapid strides to-day. Poplars and hazel catkins expanded their minute blossoms and Hepatica was in füll bloom. All over the Great Meadows the grass was green by evening, thrusting its blades an inch or two above the surface of the now shallow water. Within the last two days the pitch pines have turned from yellowish-green to a dark, clear green so exactly like that of the white pines that it is now impossible to distinguish these two trees by the color of their foliage alone. Late this afternoon mosquitos appeared in sufiicient numbers to cause us some annoyance. Yet there are still snow and ice in sheltered places. In Davis's Swamp under the pine ridge we saw this forenoon a field of ice covering half an acre and 3 or 4 inches in thickness. W e arose soon after daybreak and climbed to the top of Ball's Hill just in time to see the sun rise under a narrow belt of clouds which were tinged with beautiful colors. Red-wings, 115

Concord River Song Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, a Tree Sparrow, a Robin and a Grass Finch were singing within hearing, the Bittern pumping across the meadows, and a Partridge drumming on the Blakeman ridge. Crows cawed, Jays screamed and a few Barn and White-bellied Swallows twittered. A Flicker shouting and a Downy drumming. Presently we turned towards the south and beheld a flock of sixteen Canada Geese coming directly towards us at a height of not over 300 feet, flapping slowly as if tired and keeping dead silence until they were nearly over us when, with a few low musical honks (probably notes of command from the leader) they changed their course and, recrossing the river just below the Hill, quickly passed beyond our sight to the eastward. Faxon thought they saw the ocean and were making for it. There was something peculiarly impressive in the silent, majestic advance of these great birds when we first caught sight of them. As we were eating breakfast, a Flicker began shouting on the hill and then, breaking off suddenly, uttered the shouting notes by twos, with intervals between each pair. By the change of direction in the sound we knew that he was Aying and rushing to the door saw him cross the river and meadow to an oak on the Bedford shore, keeping up the interrupted shout during the entire flight. Neither Faxon nor I have ever heard a Flicker shout on wing before. FLICKER

SINGS

ON w i N G .

FLIGHT SONG OF T H E p i N E W A R B L E R .

Soon afterwards, while

at Davis's Hill, we made a similarly novel Observation on the Pine Warbler, which for the first time we heard utter what 116

Concord River seemed to be a real flight song, made up of the usual trill with a number of low tivits and warbling notes preceding the trill. There were three birds (probably two males chasing a female) darting and twisting about among the upper branches of a pine.

October 24,

i8p6

Passing Ball's Hill I landed at Birch Island and walked to the Mason field. While standing in the middle of the dense oak woods between this field and the river, I saw a large bird, which I took at first for a Jay, chasing a Warbier through the tree tops. Back and forth they went, passing directly over me several times. The Warbier seemed to be annoyed rather than frightened and his pursuer did not appear to exert himself. Indeed, during much of the time he seemed to be losing rather than gaining ground but he kept steadily after the Warbier, following all its twists and turns closely. I was beginning to wonder what it all meant when the two plunged into some dense foliage and the next instant came to the ground together, the Warbier chirping in sharp, agonized tones. I hurried to the spot and found that my supposed Jay was a Northern Shrike, a brown young bird. He was Standing on the ground under the trees, shaking the poor, fluttering Warbier as a terrier shakes a rat. I had a loaded gun in my hands and was sorely tempted to use it, but refrained. The next instant the Shrike flew off over the meadow, carrying his prey in his bill. I think the Warbler was a Blackpoll. At least its chirp sounded like that of that species. SHRiKE KiLLS WARBLER.

117

Concord River April iSp-j coRVus A M E R i C A N U s . Düring the latter part of the month the Crows in the region about Ball's Hill have been exceedingly loquacious, making all the various sounds which I have heard from them in former years and in addition a peculiar succession of low whining and mewing cries which are quite new to me. At times these cries resembled those of young kittens, at others of children talking and laughing in low tones. I have heard them many times and in different places, always when two birds were together, once when a pair were engaged in copulation (April 3oth) in the top of a low pine on Davis's Hill. Apparently, therefore, they are love notes. They are often followed by a succession of husky caivs.

October 28, CAROLINA R A i L .

iS^i

The Carolina Rail seen yesterday was in the

same place this morning. Indeed, it spent the entire day there, Walking slowly back and forth over a space of only a few yards Square, keeping most of the time under some button bushes but occasionally venturing out on an open space of bare mud. W h y it should stick to such a place with the great expanse of grass meadows directly opposite is a mystery. Its tameness was even more surprising for two of my men were at work all day within less than twenty feet of the bird and at times they made a great deal of noise, hammering at some large stones which 118

Concord River they were laying. This Rail is a rather peculiar-looking specimen, for its bill is dark greenish and its plumage more than ordinarily marbled, with white on the back and sides.

October

18^1

As I was Standing near the cabin this noon, I heard the ordinary whistling call of the Canada Jay given five or six times near at hand in the maples by the canoe landing. Of course I was greatly excited, feeling sure that at last I was to see a Perisoreus in my Concord woods. But when, a moment later, the bird hopped out into clear view on a leafless branch, it proved to be a Blue Jay. It gave the call two or three times more while I was looking at it and then flew across the river. Evidently it must have been a migrant from some more northern region where Canada Jays abound. Only once before have I heard the Blue Jay mimic this cry — at Pine Point, Lake Umbagog, two or three years ago. The Imitation given to-day was simply perfect. BLUE J A Y .

November

5, 18^1

It is notoriously difficult to make a good skin of a Marsh Hawk. The chief trouble is with the feathers of the foreneck which will not lie smoothly or "cover" well unless the neck be wired and the head arranged with the bill pointing straight upward after the manner in which Owl skins are now usually 119

Concord River made. The explanation occurred to me this morning as I was watching a Marsh Hawk beating a meadow. I noticed that the bird held his bill pointing straight dowmvard, the whole time he was within ränge of my glass. On reflection I remembered having observed the same fact many times before but for the first time it occurred to me that this position of the head and neck must be the only natural and easy one for a bird whose whole life, practically, is spent skimming low over fields and meadows with its eyes scanning the ground directly beneath. When one comes to think of it, there are few birds that search for food in this way and of these such as I am familiar with, viz. the Turkey and Black Vulture and the Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites have much the same way of carrying the head, as the Marsh Hawk, while with the Kites at least the skin must be made after the manner above described in order to get the feathers of the neck to lie smoothly.

November

20, 18^'j

The whole country was beautiful beyond description in its robe of spotless white. The effect of the snow on the trees was unusual. They were not loaded down with masses of snow, as is usually the case, but each twig and branch was merely "picked out," as it were, in white. The pines were especially beautiful, the snow clinging about the bases of each düster of needles, leaving the tips exposed. The effect of the grasses and stalks was most delicate of all. 120

Concord River GEESE.

But most interesting of all was

the

flight of Water-

fowl. T w i c e during the day I was thrilled by the honking of Geese. On the first occasion — at about 8 A.M. — the flock, containing 22 birds, passed nearly over me at a great height. T h e air was thick with falling snow at the time and I was interested to see that the noble birds were slightly confused by the obliteration of their usual landmarks for, Coming straight up the course of the river from Carlisle Bridge, they did not as usual cut across the land just below Davis's Hill but, on the contrary, nearly passed Ball's Hill to the eastward, keeping on due south. It was perfectly obvious that they discovered their mistake at the precise moment when they came to the sharp bend which the river makes just below the cabin, for at this point the flock was for a moment thrown into confusion by the sudden halting of its leaders. Then, after a chorus of loud musical honks^ they actually turned back and, sweeping around the rear of Ball's Hill in a long curve, resumed the path towards the southwest which migrating flocks of Geese always follow at this place in autumn. FIELD MICE.

A week or more ago we found one morning in

the path directly in front of the cabin a hole which at first I supposed had been made by a Chipmunk from the fact that no dirt whatever had been thrown out. Yesterday there was a second hole a few feet from the first, which had been nearly closed up in the night. Both holes went straight down for about two feet and then turned off at a right angle.

This

morning I went to the spot the first thing and found the trail of a Field Mouse leading from the second hole in various direc121

Concord River tions. In places the creature had run over the surface of the snow, in others it had tunneled under it. I did not before know that the Field Mouse shared with the Chipmunk the secret of making a burrow without leaving any of the dirt about.

March i'j, i8p8

I saw to-day where Rabbits had barked oaks and young hemlocks and where Mice had barked a düster of small pitch pines — eating, besides the bark, a great quantity of pine needles, which had colored their excrement green. The Rabbits had worked two feet or more above the ground on the surface of snow, the Mice dose to the ground. The Rabbits had scored the stems of the trees with broad, deep furrows Uke the grooves made by a small gouge but the trees barked by the Mice looked as if they had been scraped with a rasp or coarse file.

March 18, i8p8

As we were eating breakfast, a very large Red Squirrel visited the meat-bone hanging in the oak by the cabin door and helped himself liberally. A few minutes after he had gone, another and smaller one, doubtless his mate, appeared and took her turn at the bone. After breakfast I launched the canoe and paddled down river, hugging the wooded western shore to keep out of the wind as well as for the pleasure of exploring all the pretty SQUiRRELS.

122

Concord River little coves and Channels which the present high stage of water makes so accessible and attractive.

At the eastern end of Ball's Hill I saw a large Gray Squirrel feasting on the buds of a maple that stood on the edge of the water, and at the southern extrenaity of Davis's Hill I found three of these animals, similarly employed. Two of them were in a tree that was entirely surrounded by water and so far from shore that I thought at first that they must have reached it by swimming; but as I approached they galloped at füll speed along a horizontal branch and leaped across a space fully s i x f e e t in width to the end of a long branch that stretched out from one of the trees on the shore, only just catching the slender, terminal twigs with their fore paws, but quickly raising themselves by these and gaining the upper side of the branch. It was a remarkably clever feat for such comparatively heavy animals. After dining at the cabin I walked about on the sides of Ball's Hill for an hour or more. The damage which the Rabbits have done to my shrubs and young trees the past winter exceeds anything that has ever happened within my Observation before. At the eastern end of the hill hundreds if not thousands of trees and shrubs have been ruined and in places several rods Square scarce one has escaped. . . . Only a very few of the common Hazels have been molested. One of my Hawthorns is ruined. The teeth marks show that the Rabbit always bites a c r o s s the stem, never up and down, and that it invariably works above the level of the snow. It apparently never barks white pines or birches and these are al-

TREES BARKED BY RABBITS.

123

Concord River most the only trees found here which enjoy complete immunity from its attacks. I started a Rabbit from its form in the Center of the devastated tract this afternoon. I left the cabin for Concord before 4 P.M. and, paddling slowly, followed the shore hne across Barrett's Meadow and around behind Holden's Hill. The wind had fallen to a gentle breeze and the air was soft and warm, reminding me of that of an afternoon in early October. Another and most unexpected reminder of autumn was the autumn voice of Hyla pickeringii, the slow, dry . . . call, not in the least like the clear, incisive, bell-like spring peeping; and coming, as I satisfied myself, beyond all possibility of doubt, not from the water's edge but from the dry woods well up on the sides of Holden's Hill. . . . As I have not yet heard the spring peeping, I am inclined to believe that at least some of these Hylas spend the winter on high ground and that when awakened by the first warm days they give the autumn call before they go into the water to peep. . . . (Pat afterwards told me that Hylas were peeping merrily to-night in the swamps near Bensen's.)

March 20, At 10 A.M. I Started down river, making very rapid progress under my little storm sail. Saw four Herring Gulls Aying over Great Meadow. Spent the day at or near the cabin. . . . The wind blew a living gale all the afternoon and I had given up all thought of attempting to get back to Concord when it began to abate and I finally started about 6.30 and 124

Concord River paddled up in an hour. Before starting, I took a walk around the eastern end of Ball's Hill, starting a Partridge and seeing fifteen or twenty Robins Aying in to the old spring roost in the dense, bushy pines on the edge of the swamp. They all came across the river from the West Bedford shore. Several of them sang for a minute or two before going to sleep. I do not think that they congregate at this roost in spring excepting when there is a strong north-west wind. As I was retuming around the end of the ridge, I heard a prodigious crashing and thumping among the dry leaves in the hazel thickets on the hillside. The next instant two Rabbits appeared and passed me within a few yards. One, a very large one, appeared to be chasing the other, a much smaller animal. Presently they separated, taking different directions — the small one coming back past me. It seemed to be in a playful mood, darting hither and thither in the most erratic way and occasionally running very swiftly in a half circle. I was astonished at the ease with which it threaded its way through the dense brush and also at the suddenness with which it would stop when going at füll speed. I had not before realized how active and playful a Rabbit may be when quite at its ease and unconscious of danger. RABBITS PLAYiNG.

March 21, i8p8 As we were crossing Bensen's pasture, we saw a Shrike perched on an apple tree. A moment later he started and flew directly towards us, skimming SHRiKE CATCHES A FLYiNG iNSECT.

125

Concord River dose Over the ground. When within a few rods, he checked his speed, evidently with the intention of alighting but at the same instant a large insect, probably a beetle and no doubt the object that had attracted his attention, rose in a spiral to a height of three or four feet when it was caught by the Shrike, who followed its course with remarkable accuracy and overtook and seized it with the greatest apparent ease, bearing it off in his bill to a fence post near at hand.

March 31, 18^8 At II A.M. I walked up through Bensen's field and back around the Hill. Started a Partridge and heard a Chickadee singing merrily in the storm. The snow ceased falling about i P.M. and by 4 P.M. the sky was clear and the north wind had strengthened and become colder. Yet almost with the first gleams of sunshine the snow disappeared like magic and by sunset there was scarce a trace of it left. A Rough-legged Hawk was perched in the large red oak at the east end of Ball's Hill. Three or four Crows were clustered about him, cawing excitedly. The Crows flew before I got near the tree, but the Hawk remained until I was within thirty yards of him. He was a large bird, very dark but not black.

ROUGH-LEGGED H A W K .

126

Concord River April II, 18p8 A little before sunrise a Red Squirrel appeared in the oak and was soon hard at work in our provision basket, where he tore the wrapping off a chop and ate some of the fat. His saucy yet, withal, furtive bearing as he worked hurriedly, every other moment sitting erect and looking keenly around as if fearing detection, was very entertaining. Presently he began making a pecuHar low growling sound, keeping it up for many minutes in succession. I soon discovered that it was cause d by the approach of an enormous Gray Squirrel, who came across a long branch from another oak and jumped into the tree where the basket hung. The Gray descended very slowly to within a yard of the basket and then, stopping, lay extended for a long time on a broad branch, paying no apparent attention to the continued remonstrance of the Red Squirrel who, all the while, held his ground, although he ceased eating. Finally the Gray went off and the Red continued his breakfast. SQUiRRELS.

April 26, i8p8 At about 6 P . M . I came upon a Meadow Mouse that was feeding by the side of the river path near the cabin. It was scarce six feet away when I saw it and stopped to watch it. It was eating the fresh green blades of one of the common cultivated grasses. These blades were three or four inches in length. It nipped them off near the ground and, beginning MEADOw MOUSE.

127

Concord River at the bases, worked them into its mouth quite evenly and rapidly, chewing them and drawing them in wholly by the use of its teeth. It was a remarkably neat, pretty animal with dense, glossy für. Its shape and motions reminded me strongly of those of a Muskrat. After I had watched it for fully ten minutes, it took alarm at something and darted into a runway a few feet off.

May I, i8p8 Red-wings, Song Sparrows, Robins and a Pine Warbier singing near the cabin at sunrise. Just after breakfast a SoHtary Vireo in füll song near the crest of Ball's Hill and a Rubycrowned Kinglet chattering and singing among the dense pines just behind this hill. I was Struck by the dose resemblance between the chatter and that which the Solitary Vireo Utters when its nest is approached. Later in the day we heard another Kinglet in füll song in Bedford Swamp. At 8.30 A.M. we Started down river in the old Buttrick boat, paddling, poling and rowing by turns, hugging the shores of the flooded meadow closely for the water is now as high as it was the middle of last March. W e saw but few birds until we reached Lawrence's big woods where on landing we found a mixed flock of Yellow-rumps and Yellow Palm Warbiers flitting about among the oaks and pines, darting out after Aying insects and singing freely, the dry, chattering notes of the Palm Warblers blending with the much sweeter ones of the Yellowrumps. . . . 128

Concord River Following the old wood-path we presently reached the top of the hill where a most interesting experience awaited us. As we began rambling about through the fine old woods, I noticed, every few steps, large pellets of für and bones scattered about under the trees. I had just remarked to Purdie that a Great Horned Owl must have beert Hving in the neighborhood and that it was probably the same bird which I have heard several times this spring near Ball's Hill when, raising my eyes, I saw what I toolc at first to be a dead Sheep lying at the foot of a large pine about thirty yards off but on approaching nearer we discovered that the whitish-looking object, very conspicuous on the russet-brown surface of the ground, was two young Great Horned Owls, huddled dose together. They were fully three-quarters grown and already well-feathered, although enough down still adhered to the tips of the feathers to give them a generally whitish appearance. One of them opened its pale yellow eyes wide and stared at us with dull curiosity but the other kept its eyes tightly closed. W e did not go near enough to disturb them seriously and we saw nothing of either of their parents. They had probably fallen from a nest about as large as a Crow's nest which we could see in a fork of the pine, directly over their heads and about forty feet above the ground. By them lay the skin of a Rabbit apparently nearly entire and freshly torn off. The pine stands on level ground on the top of a ridge bordering the river meadow. The woods are at present about six acres in extent, and are almost wholly composed of large, old white pines.

129

Concord River May 2, i8p8

GREAT HORNED owLs. In the aftemooii I sailed down to the great Bedford Swamp where I dug some Rhodora bushes and then crossed the river (still under sail) to Lawrence's woods where I . . . visited the young Great Horned Owls. They were in the same place but they had moved about one quarter around the trunk of the pine, evidently as I thought because the wind had changed, for yesterday when it was north they were on the south side of the tree and to-day, when it was south-east, on the north-west side. While I was looking at them, Standing about 20 yards away, one of the old birds began hooting in the pines behind me; presently it appeared and, Aying from tree to tree, moved around me in a half circle, keeping just beyond gun-range and behaving in the most curious manner. Alighting dose to the trunk of a pine, at a height of 30 or 40 feet above the ground, it would follow the branch out nearly to the end, Walking steadily and at times rather quickly, its body horizontal, its wings wide-spread and flapping slowly like those of a big butterfly, its head lowered considerably below the line of the back, its horns slightly raised and its eyes glaring fiercely. It hooted every half minute or so in low, cooing tones. Its mate also hooted in answer, but soon afterwards flew off to another piece of woods. The moment he showed himself in the open, he was discovered by a Crow whose excited cawing brought others of his kind from every direction until within the next few minutes a dozen or more assembled and mobbed the Owl after their usual fashion. 130

Concord River I wonder why the Crows do not mob the young Owls. They must certainly be aware of their presence. The rabbit skin still lay by their side but it looked much smaller than it did yesterday and I think they have devoured part of it.

May 4,

i8p8

In the afternoon sailed down stream to Lawrence's woods, taking my 5 x 7 camera and exposing a dozen plates on the young Great Horned Owls. When I first came in sight of them, they were Standing up a yard or more apart and a little distance from the tree. One of them repeatedly opened and stretched its wings but the next moment they discovered me when they at once toddled to the pine and crouched dose against its trunk, touching one another. As I advanced the camera to within about two yards of them, they shrank back still closer to the tree and began snapping their bills; but while I was taking the photographs they lay perfectly motionless. I saw no food and no pellets near them but the surface of the ground around the pine was white with their chalky excrement. Before I got near the young the old birds began hooting and the male presently started off, taking the same course as on May znd and again attracting a mob of Crows the moment he left the shelter of the woods. The female came about me in a half circle as usual, but for the first time she neglected the tactics which she has hitherto adopted and contented herseif with taking short, restless flights, alighting high up in the trees and 131

Concord River sitting erect and motionless when perched. This change of behavior interested me greatly, I Interpret it to mean that she has discovered that it is useless to try to lead me away from her young by pretending that her wings are injured. Certainly I must have caused her much greater anxiety than on any previous occasion, but possibly the very fact of my near approach to the young and the erection of the camera nearly over them convinced her that they were at my mercy and that nothing that she could do would be of any avail. She was much more noisy, however, than heretofore and I was deeply interested in the variety of sounds that she uttered. At first she hooted the usual night strain but in subdued and muffled tones, The she changed to a hoot which, if I am not mistaken, was identical with that of the honking Owl that sometimes Visits our camp at Pine Point and which I have never before suspected could be a Bubo. She used this form of hoot during the latter half of my stay near the young. I noted it carefully on the spot, as follows: hoo, hoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, hoohoo, hoo, given very rapidly and smoothly in very soft, low, cooing tones. Besides the hooting, she uttered a barking wah or ivaugh very like the bark of a dog (sometimes doubling this cry, i.e. ivah-ivah) and a rather prolonged squealing or whining outcry exceedingly similar to that of a hen Partridge with young. The old Owls evidently spend the day in the densest part of these pine woods about loo yards from where the young lie.

132

Concord River May 7, i8p8 In the afternoon I paddled down to Lawrence's woods, taking my camera. The young Owls were gone and at first I neither saw nor heard either of the old birds but one of the latter began hooting presently and I think I must have started the other at about the same time, judging by the way the Crows gathered and clamored in the woods by the river into which the male Owl flies when disturbed. Two Red-shouldered Hawks also appeared over these woods, screaming incessantly for ten or fifteen minutes — their shrill voices adding materially to the din kept up by the excited Crows. All the while one of the Owls remained near me in the tops of the pines, hooting at short, regulär intervals, using always the ordinary night hoot — hoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, hoo, hoo, but giving it in subdued tones. But where were the young? I first examined the ground about the foot of the pine with great care. It was strewn with huge pellets of für and bones and reeking with excrement, among which dung beetles were groping about, after their usual stupid fashion. There was an unmistakable but not very strong smell of Skunk mingled with the more offensive odors, but I failed to find any skunk hair or other remains. The ground was strewn in every direction with scraps of Rabbit skin, and all the pellets that I dissected were composed wholly of Rabbit's für and bones. There were no feathers of Partridge or other birds. Besides the Rabbit remains (representing a dozen or more of the poor bunnies, I should say) I found nothing identifiable excepting a Green Frog which had one side of its head torn open, but which was otherwise unmutilated. 133

Concord River My heart sank when I discovered a sort of trail of down, evidently that of the young Bubos, clinging to the tips of the low blueberry bushes and leading straight away from the pine for a distance of several yards. But after I had followed it to its termination and was looking ahead for further clues, my eyes were suddenly arrested by a yellowish patch on the end of a fallen trunk that was raised four or five feet above the ground and to my great delight I found that it was one of the young Owls. He was crouching so very flat and he lay so still as I approached that I feared at first that he was dead; but he proved to be all right and I spent the next half hour photographing him, exposing ten plates in all. I did not succeed in finding the other young bird and I think it probable that he has been carried off by either a Dog or a Fox, but of course he may have been hidden somewhere in the neighborhood and the trail of down may have had no real meaning, for the wind may have blown it into the tops of the bushes. The old Owl kept hooting all the time I was near the young bird but she did not once change her position or show herseif.

May 18, 18^8 Took a long walk with [Walter] Deane in the forenoon, starting at 8.30 and getting back to the cabin a little after noon. The whole country was swarming with birds. I have rarely ever seen so many even at this season. They were very evenly distributed, and we met with no flocks anywhere but every thicket, however small, harbored something of more or less interest. , . . 134

Concord River B E A U T Y OF APPLE-ORCHARD.

It would bc difficult to conccive

any picture more charming than that before our eyes to-day, as we lay under the apple trees with the birds and blossoms above us and the grass, already tall and dense, forming an emerald carpet beneath and around us. From the fields beyond the orchard came the merry music of BoboHnks and, in the oak and pine woods behind, wood birds of many kinds were singing. Among them was a Golden-winged Warbier whose song broke the spell and enticed us into a long and fruitless pursuit, f o r we failed to get a near view of him. GREAT HORNED o w L S .

While in Lawrence's woods, I looked

carefully and persistently for the Great Horned Owls. The old birds could not be found but, to my great delight, I at length discovered both the young perched side by side on the branch of a big pine nearly fifty feet above the ground, one standing erect, the other crouched lengthwise on the limb, like a big Goatsucker. It is little short of a miracle that both should have escaped the dangers which surrounded them. One looked much larger than the other. Both still retained a good deal of down, through which the mature feathers were beginning to show everywhere.

May i8, 1898 . . . A t 3.30 P.M. we took the old boat and started up river. Several Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers were seen at Dakin's Hill and as we entered the Holt we heard Greater Yellow-legs whistling. W e soon discovered them scattered about on the 135

Concord River meadow on the east side of the river and, running the boat in shore, watched them for half-an-hour or more. There were just fifteen of them on this meadow, while a solitary bird was feeding on the other side of the stream. As we were within fifty or sixty yards of the main flock, we had a fine chance to observe them. One or two birds, apparently acting as sentinels, stood erect and still on the tops of the tussocks, while the others rambled about through the short grass, probing the mud for food. When one of the sentinels whistled, all the other birds raised their heads and stood motionless until the alarm subsided. When we finally showed ourselves, the flock rose and flew off over Dakin's Hill but they returned and pitched down into the meadow again a few minutes later. All the time we were here, the Bobolinks were making the meadow ring with their music and a Bittern was pumping in the distance.

May 20, 18^8 Spent two hours or more immediately after breakfast rambling about in the woods on and behind Ball's Hill. They were simply swarming with birds, but the only northern-breeding species noted were a Wilson's Black-cap, a Black-poll, a Water Thrush, a Canadian Warbier (one or two pairs breed here) and a Lincoln's Finch. All the others were species which summer here but it hardly seems possible that all could have been really our local birds. There was a female Humming-bird and a Thrasher among them. 136

Yellowlegs in a Marsh

Concord River I found the Lincoln's Finch in a thicket of alders and cornels surrounded by dense young white pines. It was very tarne and fearless, allowing me to approach within a few yards and I watched it for fifteen or twenty minutes. It spent the whole of this time on the ground, rambHng about and feeding among the fallen leaves which it tossed about with its bin, but did not once attempt to remove by scratching with its feet. It was slower of movement and altogether much less alert and animated in appearance than a Song Sparrow and its gait was at all times a hopping one, whereas the Song Sparrow often walks. It . . . might have been partly mistaken for a small, dark Song Sparrow by a superficial observer. It occasionally paused a few moments to bask in the sun in little openings among the bushes. I did not hear it utter any sound. LINCOLN'S FINCH.

June 24, i8p8 For the past two nights the clamor and din of Batrachian voices has been something indescribable. Bull Frogs, Green Frogs, Garden Toads and Tree Toads have been apparently vying with each other as to which should make the most noise. The Green Frogs have easily carried off the palm. Their tmig, tung-timging sounds at certain distances singularly like the voices of people talking and laughing. It irritates and annoys me at times, but I never tire of listening to the rieh, deep bass of the Bull Frogs. They are decidedly the least numerous of the Batrachians here but unfortunately a very few of them BATRACHiAN v o i c E S .

137

Concord River suffice to fill the marshes with sound which rolls against the wooded hüls and echoes back again, drowning the cries of all the smaller species.

October 5, RoosT OF RUSTY BLACKBiRDs.

i8p8

T h e R u s t y Gracklcs have estab-

lished an enormous roost in the pickerei weed (already blackened and withered by the early frosts) and uncut grass about the edges of the shallow little lagoon at the head of Beaver Dam Rapid (i.e. just below Dakin's Hill). As I was leaving the cabin I saw several flocks Aying up river and when I reached the lagoon (5 P.M.) they were coming in from every direction but chiefly from that of Concord. The flocks varied in size from ten or a dozen to forty or fifty birds each. As they came over the lagoon they circled once or twice and then swooped down on set wings. As I was watching them arrive, the entire body of birds already settled were seized with a sudden panic and took flight in two detachments, each of which must have contained nearly two hundred birds. The noise made by their wings was like that of a gale blowing through pine trees. Many of them returned to the reeds after a short flight but upwards of 200 settled among the branches of a nearly leafless maple, covering it as with a black pall and keeping up their jingling melody until I had passed beyond hearing. As I kept on up river, flock after flock of these Blackbirds passed me on their way to the roost. In all I certainly saw 500 birds. 138

Concord River October i^, 1898 . . . In the afternoon, despite the rain, I spent nearly two hours in the woods on the Blakenian Ridge and Holden's Hill. At times the rain came down in perfect sheets and the east wind roared through the tree tops and lashed the branches about. I was curious to see what wild creatures were out in such a storm. First I met a party of three Chickadees, half drenched but as cheerful and busy as usual. Next I saw two Gray Squirrels, one of which crossed a flooded swamp by leaping from brauch to brauch among sonie low alders and wild rose-bushes. He had evidently been to Holden's Hill in search of chestnuts and he also seemed cheerful enough although his tail and back were sadly bedraggied by the wet. IMMENSE FLOCK OF BRONZED GRACKLES.

A s I waS Standing at

the west end of Holden's Hill an immense flock of ßronzed Grackles came from up river and, passing directly over the Rusty Blackbird roost at Beaver Dam Lagoon, kept on eastward. Ten minutes later I found them in the oaks and chestnuts on the Blakeman Ridge. They appeared to be looking for acorns and chestnuts for they flew from tree to tree, clustering all over the ends of the upper branches. As far as I could see, they were unsuccessful in their search (both acorns and chestnuts are scarce this autumn). Finally they all took wing at once and, Crossing the Barrett meadow, swept over the woods beyond in the direction of Beaver Dam Lagoon. . . . 139

Concord River November 4, 18^8 At about 8 A . M . Chadboume and I discovered three Canada Geese floating on the river a little below Birch Island. We saw them first from Davis's Hill. Making a circuit through the woods we approached them from behind Birch Island, but they had swum further down stream and dose to the eastern shore. Presently two of them entered the grass and began feeding, the third bird, a very large gander, keeping watch, floating on the open water with head and neck erect. When we showed ourselves, all three birds drew together and swam out but we did not hear any alarm note given nor did the birds fly. In fact we left them in the water after looking at them as long as we wished. CANADA GEESE IN T H E RIVER.

A t noon Chadbourne crossed the river to visit the spring in Parker's pasture. On nearing the shore 60 or more yards back from the river on the flooded meadow he passed a single Goose within forty yards. The bird did not fly but merely paddled off through the thin, half-submerged grass. I went in search of it with my gun, on Chadbourne's return, but I could not find it nor could I see any signs of the other Geese although I paddled down river nearly to Birch Island. N o shots were fired down river and no boats passed during the entire day. At evening I paddled down to Carlisle Bridge and back, but saw nothing except a large flock of Blackbirds which I took to be Cow-birds.

140

Concord River November p, i8p8 Went to the Barrett Farm in the afternoon. A Partridge was drumming there at short, regulär intervals on the stone wall in the Run. Either this bird or another "dusts" almost daily in an ant-hill near the wall. It is a common habit of the Partridge to resort to ant-hills for this purpose probably because they afford almost the only clear, dry dirt that can be found in the leaf-carpeted woods. Gilbert saw a Partridge eating a mushroom yesterday and brought in the fragment. It plainly showed the marks of the bird's bill but unfortunately it was so mutilated that Miss Hosmer, to whom Miss Keyes took it for Identification, was only able to say that it was one of the edible kinds. Miss Hosmer also said that she has seen Crows (as well as Cows) eating mushrooms and that they attack only the harmless species. (Another and better specimen afterwards obtained by Gilbert in the same place and considered both by him and by Miss Hosmer to be unquestionably the same species was identified by Miss Hosmer, "at a meeting in Boston," as Collybia maculata, an edible and "most delicious" kind of mushroom. PARTRIDGE KATING MUSHROOMS.

Late in the afternoon a flock of about loo Bronzed Grackles, followed a minute or two later by a second flock of fully 300, passed over the Barrett House, Aying South-west. The first flock was at an elevation of about 300 feet, the second at an immense height, fully one-half mile, I thought. 141 BRONZED GRACKLES.

Concord River November 26, i8p8 . . . Up to yesterday the season has continued remarkably mild and open, with no snow whatever and few frosts hard enough to stiffen the ground, while in the still green fields butterflies have been flitting about and crickets chirping up to within two or three days whenever the sun shone warmly. The change from autumn to winter came last night when the thermometer feil to about 20°. At daybreak this morning the meadows, now covered two or three feet deep with water, were frozen almost thickly enough to bear a man's weight and the open water in the river steamed in the sharp, biting air. Just as the sun was rising, a flock of five Sheldrake came swimming past the cabin, following the edge of the ice on the further side of the river, moving very fast and diving, sometimes all practically at once, but oftener one immediately after another in quick succession, each bird springing quite clear of the water as it took its downward plunge. They reminded me forcibly of a school of Porpoises, as they appeared and disappeared, making the calm water flash and sparkle in the sunlight. Apparently they had ill success with their fishing, for after they had passed the cabin they all took wing and went off over the frozen meadows towards the southwest. GOOSANDERS IN T H E RH^ER OPPOSITE B A L l ' s HILL.

November

i8p8

The sky clouded over early yesterday forenoon and at evening, when I came home through the fields and meadows be142

Concord River hind Holden's Hill, there was a strong north-east wind and the air feit like snow. It began snowing soon after dark and this morning when I arose the ground was covered to the depth of nearly a foot and the air was still thick with the driving flakes. A t 9 A.M. the sky brightened and the snow ceased falling but a little later the storm began again with redoubled energy. Düring the reminder of the day the snow feil almost ceaselessly but at no time very thickly; but the wind blew a living gale from the north-east, lashing the trees about on the crest of Ball's Hill and forming deep drifts in the open fields. Along the river path the wind scarcely reached and the trees were laden with light dry snow — the effect, especially where there were pines and hemlocks, being very beautiful. B y nightfall the snow measured sixteen inches deep all along this path. I have never known so heavy a fall before at this season.

December J A Y S CACHING BREAD.

8, i8p8

On each morning four Jays came [to

Miss Keyes' house] soon after sunrise and remained an hour or more. Düring this time on each occasion they made away with nearly half a loaf of bread.

This had been broken up rather

finely and thrown out on the snow under the window. The Jays ate a little of it but carried off the rest, Alling their throats and bills just as the Canada Jays do and taking their loads into a neighboring orchard (about 30 yards from the house) where they buried most of them in the ground, depositing a small part, however, behind scales of loose bark or in small holes or crevices 143

Concord River of the old apple and pear trees. The fragments hidden in the ground were scattered about over spaces where the wind had drifted away the snow. Some were merely thrust carelessly under fallen leaves or tufts of grass, others were driven into the ground by repeated powerful strokes of the birds' bills; the pieces placed in trees were almost invariably tamped firmly down before they were left. The Jays were very tarne and our presence at the windows did not seem to disturb them in the least. It was a beautiful sight to see them hopping about on the snow bank, picking up the crumbs within two or three yards of us. They seemed to be quite free from jealousy and selfishness and I did not once see one of them interfere with or threaten another, although all four were collecting their loads at the same time on a space less than a yard square. . . . April 7, i8pp Spent last night at the cabin. For the first time since I came to Concord this spring, the ground did not freeze, yet the early morning was raw and gloomy and no birds were singing. None were seen near the cabin until nearly noon, when a Chickadee and a pair of Downies visited the suet. Gilbert also heard a Pine Warbier (the first) singing on the crest of Ball's Hill. There were no Sparrows along the river front. . . . NIGHT A T T H E c A B i N .

E F F E C T S OF i c E - S T O R M OF M A R C H 1 9 T H .

The Davis Hill woods

were seriously injured by the ice-storm of March 19. The ground is so covered with broken-off tops and branches that 144

Concord River it is difficult to traverse these woods. The white pines, hickories, elms and maples suffered most. At the Barrett farm great injury was done especially to the fine old elms and hickories near the house. The ice is said to have loaded the trees and to have remained for several days, a heavy wind adding greatly to the destruction. Under the white pines the ground is densely carpeted with tufts of green needles which the ice broke off. One of my white willows has been almost completely stripped of its lateral branches and is little more than a tall, bare pole. The white maples along the river suffered a good deal.

April p,

Edward W . Emerson told me this afternoon that on the morning of March zyth, as he was dressing, he heard a sound which he took to be the violent slamming of a door in the next room. On entering this room, a bed-chamber in the second story at the north-east end of the house, he noticed a tuft of feathers clinging to the glass of one of the east windows and the next instant he perceived a Partridge standing on the roof of the piazza within a few feet of the windows. The bird saw him almost immediately and flew swiftly off towards the Assabet. The snow on the roof was marked all Over with its foot-prints. A few feathers attached to a bit of thin skin which had dried on the glass were shown me as proof of this interesting story. The day was bright and the sun an hour or more high at the time. If this was a case of "Partridge madness" it is the first instance which, so far as I am A "MAD" PARTRIDGE.

H5

Concord River aware, has ever been noted in spring. Partridges were seen before and after the above date feeding in some apple-trees on the opposite side of the wood. They came, of course, from the woods across the Assabet.

April 24, 18^9

After 8 A.M. z female Pine Warbier made several visits to the cabin in search of nesting material. She tugged persistently but ineffectually at some twine which was tied to an oak and picked up and carried off a little oakum from the calking of our log walls. She flew to the crest of the hill, where the male was singing as usual. The same thing occurred last spring at about this time. Apparently the male Pine Warbier does not accompany his mate when she is looking for nesting material. piNE WARBLER BUILDING NEST.

A Hermit Thrush was singing gloriously but sotto voce in a dense thicket of young white pines on the Barrett farm this afternoon. Rarely have I heard a finer performance although at a distance of thirty yards I could only just hear the lower notes. I estimated the distance by the bird's duck for I did not see him. In the little opening where I was standing, a pair of Antiopa butterflies were toying with one another in the warm sunshine. HERMIT THRUSH SINGING IN BARRETT WOODS.

PARTRIDGES HAVE MORE THAN ONE DRUMMING-PLACE.

A

Par-

tridge was drumming this afternoon in the Barrett Run and another in Prescott's Pines near the road to the Gun Field, both 146

Concord River on stone walls. Gilbert heard a third in the Blakeman woods. I think that the bird in Prescott's Pines was the same that I heard yesterday at the north end of Davis's Swamp (where the drumming stand is a small log) and I also believe that the Blakeman bird is the one we hear so frequently at the east end of Ball's Hill. In other words, I think that each bird has two drumming stations. ROBIN RoosT. A few Robins came to the spring roost in the dense pines behind Ball's Hill this evening. AU appeared to be males and there was, as usual, much singing and calling. I was astonished to see one bird sing on wing. I heard him in the distance at first. When he appeared, he was Aying in the usual manner, but rather slowly. He continued his song without the slightest break when and after he reached his perch on the topmost spray of a tall pine. There was nothing peculiar about the song. Evidently it was not a real flight song but the bird was simply so füll of his theme that he could not wait until he reached the end of his short journey.

East Lexington, Massachusetts, May 6, i8pp Took the 8.34 train to East Lexington where I met C. A . Lothrop and A . H. Hathaway by appointment. They had brought their boat in a wagon and had launched it in the flooded meadow where we were to spend the forenoon looking for Grebes' nests. 147

Concord River Within fifteen minutes from the time we left the shore, we found two — one with 7, the other with 8 eggs. Both were in thickets of Sweet Gale, within thirty yards of the railroad embankment, anchored securely among the stems of the bushes but floating in clear water about two feet deep. The set of seven was uncovered, that of eight almost completely hidden by a thin layer of moss and waterplants which the bird had evidently drawn over the eggs just before leaving them. Both nests were very neat and compact and very buoyant, also, as I found by pressing them down with my hand. The eggs lay in a saucer-shaped depression, the bottom of which was only slightly (less than an inch) above the surface of the water. The entire nest was soaking wet and its materials fresh and green save on the very top where there was a thin layer of light brown material that gave it the appearance of floating meadow "trash." Each nest was almost perfectly round, and the covered one was slightly dome-shaped but its top rose scarce two inches above the water and it would not have attracted the attention of any one who was unfamiliar with the Grebe's peculiar manner of nesting. Indeed, I did not see either nest until it was pointed out to me, although I was looking "with all my eyes." The Sweet Gale, already in half leaf, gave some shelter, of course, but even had it been leafless the character of the nests was such that they might have been easily overlooked at a distance of a few yards. Later we found a third nest with seven eggs, in a more open place among scanty, leafless button bushes. This nest was similar in every way to the other two. Near it was a partly finished nest which the boys considered a "bluff nest." W e saw many 148 NESTiNG OF p i E D - B i L L GREBE.

Concord River of these "bluff nests" elsewhere. T h e y were evidently the work of the Grebes but whether built to draw attention away from the real nest or merely structures which had been abandoned because the sites proved for some reason unsatisfactory, I was unable to determine. T h e eggs in this last nest were fresh, for they sank when placed in the water, but the set of eight which I took were incubated, to judge by the way they behaved when subjected to the test just mentioned. W e did not catch sight of a single Grebe the whole forenoon but they were very noisy at times. Almost invariably after we had left a nest, the birds set up a loud outcry near it, in tones, as it seemed to me, of triumph over our supposed inability to discover it.

May ip, i8pp

EVENiNG WALK ARouND b a l l ' s HILL.

Walking around the east

end of Ball's Hill last evening I heard a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in the blueberry swamp, a Wilson's Snipe drumming (twice) over Holden's Meadow, and two Solitary Sandpipers Galling high overhead. A Whippoorwill was singing in the distance, apparently on Davis's Hill, and two Nighthawks passed rather low down, hawking for insects. T h e air was deliciously soft and very still. T h e absence of mosquitoes is remarkable. There are almost none now although two weeks ago they were very numerous. T h e small black flies have also disappeared. wilson's ARRivAL.

THRUSHES

BEGIN

singing

17

D AY S

AFTER

THE

FIRST

Wilson's Thrushes began singing to-day. I heard 149

Concord River the first at 9 A.M. on the side of Ball's Hill. Gilbert heard another near the cabin about the middle of the afternoon, A t evening there was general and protracted singing all around the Hill and in the blueberry swamp behind it, at least five or six birds taking part. All of them seemed to be in excellent form. W h y is it that this species remains silent so long after its arrival? I saw the first this season on May 2, and by the loth they were abundant. Living, as I do now, in the very midst of their favorite haunts, I should have known it had there been any singing before to-day. They have called a little at morning and evening and uttered the bleating notes but not once have I heard the song before this morning. Seventeen days is a longer period of silence than usual, however. T w o ragged, soiled, bedraggled Chickadees visited the suet at the cabin to-day and helped themselves freely. The only sound they made was the low, querulous shee-de, she-de, or she-dee-de peculiar to this season. Is this a love note? Chickadees are very scarce this spring. CHICKADEES.

April 21, 1^00 As twilight was falling, Purdie discovered a Rabbit within ten feet of the smaller cabin and called me out to see it. It was nibbling at a piece of toasted bread and showed little or no fear of us although it started off a few feet when I tried to pass it within a distance of two or three yards. It looked and acted like the remarkably tarne Rabbit which frequented the path east of the cabin last spring.

A T A M E W I L D RABBIT.

150

Concord River YOUNG PAINTED TORTOISES DTJG U P IN SANDY FIELD.

A s P a t WaS

digging a hole for a pine this afternoon his spade turned out three young Painted Tortoises, alive but in a torpid State. They were about as large around as silver dollars. Several years ago at about this season or a little later Wood, while surveying Bensen's field, found several of these young Tortoises apparently on their way to the river. He brought one of them to me and I remember that at the time we both thought that they must have just come out of the ground. I wonder if all of them remain there during their first winter.

April

ipoo

Rcpeatcdly of late I have heard a male Bluebird warbling to its mate in tones exquisitely soft and tender, and so low as to be audible only a few yards away. Among the ordinary notes it interpolates a fine, wiry, whining sound not unlike the preliminary notes of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet's song. BLUEBIRD'S LOVE NOTES.

May ji, ipoo I took the 8.13 train for East Lexington where I met C. A. Lothrop by appointment, our object being to find and photograph some Grebes' nests. Lothrop had engaged a boat but it proved to be so leaky as to keep one or the other of us at work bailing most of the time. It was also too broad to go through the brush easily. Nevertheless by patience and hard work we 151

Concord River explored practically every flooded thicket in the entire reservoir. The results were disappointing for we found only one Grebe's nest. Nor did we hear any Grebes save the pair to which this nest belonged. This nest was built in the center of a small düster of leafless button bushes and was floating on water about 2 feet deep. It rocked to and fro and rose and feil as the waves rocked it from a space of open water near by. It contained 6 eggs. These were covered when we found it, wholly uncovered when we visited it an hour later, entirely covered when we passed on our way to the landing in the afternoon. W e exposed a number of plates on it during our second visit, spending nearly an hour in this occupation. During this time the Grebes called every little while, at first some distance away, gradually working nearer until they were within 25 or 30 yards. They gave the Cuckoo call only. We did not see either of them. GREBE'S NEST.

May 2p, 1^00 NORTH-BOUND WARBLERS, THRUSHES, ETC. ARRIVE FROM SOUTH IN EXTRAORDINARY N U M B E R S AND VARIETY.

THE

I WaS i n t h e

woods on and about Ball's Hill most of the forenoon and in the afternoon visited Davis's Hill. Apparently all the birds which were here yesterday remained over and an immense number arrived from the South during the night. At least the woods were swarming with birds to-day throughout the Ball's Hill region. Most of the unmistakable northern migrants were Black152

Concord River polls, Canadian Warbiers and Water Thrushes. I saw at least fifty individuals of each of the first two, the majority being females. There were two large Gray-cheeked Thrushes and an Oiive-back at Ball's Hill. Traill's Fiycatchers were scattered about along the river front and across the river on the West Bedford shore. I could not count them accurately as they were continually shifting from place to place but there were certainly three or four. I wonder if the reason why they are such late migrants is that they do not like to move northward until the thickets are in nearly füll leaf. Their shyness and love of concealment would suggest such an inference. I did not succeed in catching sight of one to-day, although I tried repeatedly to follow up the pip call which was so constantly in my ears. . . . WATER THRUSHES IN DRY WOODS ON TOPS AND SIDES OF HILLS.

The Water Thrushes were also scattered about everywhere on the sides and tops of the hills in the dryest possible situations. That this was due not to individual choice but to the overcrowding of the swampy thickets was evident, for I repeatedly saw birds fly from the side of Ball's Hill into the thickets along the river and the next instant return, hotly pursued by another Water Thrush whose haunts they had invaded. In other words, each bird in the river thickets evidently monopolized and stoutly defended a certain portion of those especially choice feeding grounds. June

1^00

The Redstart's nest in the oak behind Gilbert's cabin which was begun May 16th BLUE J A YS RAID THE NEST OF A REDSTART.

153

Concord River and which contained 2 eggs on June ist looked dishevelled last evening and as the bird had evidently deserted it and was beginning a new nest still nearer the cabin I feit sure that the eggs had been destroyed. Gilbert examined it this morning and found it empty. About an hour later I heard a Jay screaming and the next moment saw the bird coming high above the tree tops and evidently from a distance. It headed straight for the oak, alighted in the upper branches, screamed once or twice and then with half-closed wings dropped 12 or 15 feet to the nest where it perched for about half-a-minute, bending forward with its head turned on one side and its bill actually within the nest. Evidently, as it seemed to me, it had returned in the hope that another egg might have been laid since its visit yesterday, for I can no longer doubt that not only a Jay but this particular Jay plundered the nest yesterday. Finding the nest empty this morning, it flew back silently in the direction whence it had come. The Redstart seemed much disturbed by its visit and after it had gone she fluttered dose about the old nest and once nearly entered it, after which she went back to the new one and continued to work at it through the remainder of the forenoon.

June 2'j^ 1^00 I crossed the river shortly before sunset and rambled about upwards of an hour over Arnold's pasture. My walk finally extended itself across the railroad and up through the lawn to Arnold's house, where I QUAIL'S N E S T AND S E V E N T E E N EGGS.

154

Concord River was shown the Quail's nest. It was just over the wall from the main road in an apple orchard, in the side of a low mound dose to an old stump surrounded by short and apparently dead grass, which afforded it practically no shelter; but the nest was so deeply sunk into the side of the mound that the eggs could not be readily seen from above, although they were all visible and very conspicuous when we stood in front of the nest a few feet off. Arnold said that the bird was sitting this forenoon but we found her absent this evening. At first glance the nest and its contents looked all right, but on closer inspection we were surprised to find that all but three of the eggs had hatched. The shells of all but two had been left in the nest and most of them were arranged in such a way as to look like perfect eggs, while several of them had the two halves hinged on one side and Atting closely together all around the edges of the fracture so that it was necessary to pick them up and examine them closely before one could make sure that they were not whole. The shell of one of the eggs which were outside the nest lay directly in front of it, that of the other was to one side and a foot or more distant from the entrance. . . .

October

i^oo

When I awoke at daybreak the woods about the cabin were shrouded in dense fog. I could hear Crows cawing, Jays screaming, Robins calling, a Cat-bird mewing and a Screech Owl whining. BALL'S HILL.

155

Concord River Presently a bird, which I took at first to be the Cat-bird, began singing in subdued tones very near my window, uttering a prolonged medley of choking, stuttering, and whistling notes among which I soon recognized a feeble rendering of the spring song as well as the call notes of Bicknell's Thrush. The next moment the bird appeared in an oak within a few yards and I identified him positively as Bicknell's Thrush — a small, dark specimen. He flitted about among the oaks near me for ten or fifteen minutes, frequently singing and still more frequently regaling himself on the berries of a frost grape which he usually took on wing, Aying directly at the branches, seizing a berry while poising for an instant on beating wings and then alighting to swallow it. Later in the day Gilbert and I saw him at or near this grape vine many times. BICKNELL'S THRUSH SINGS SOTTO VOICE.

April 5, ipoi

Soon after reaching the cabin I started to walk to the Farm. Just as I reached Bensen's pasture, I heard Geese honking. The sound as it first came to my ears from a distance of perhaps a mile was exceedingly like the baying of hounds. Presently I caught sight of the noble birds, high up over the Great Meadows, stretched out in a line nearly one hundred yards in length and extending at a right angle to their line of flight. As they advanced, they changed to the hollow formation and inclined their flight to the westward, passing nearly over the Barrett house, then back up river past Davis's Hill, finally wheeling again and going off towards the northeast. GEESE.

156

A Wedge of Canada Geese

Concord River What a damor they made! At times they would burst out into a general outcry; then, after a moment of silence, an old gander would honk once or twice in deep, sonorous tones, another would answer him and then another until a dozen or more were calling at once. Everyone saw and heard them; the men working at the Farm, Bensen at his house, Gilbert and Pat at the cabin. The counts made of the flock varied from sixty to seventy birds. They were evidently tempted to alight on the flooded meadows, for when they circled back over Ball's Hill they lowered their flight to scarce one hundred yards above the earth, but the sight of a couple of muskrat hunters in a red canoe probably decided them to continue on their journey northward.

June 2, i^oi owL. On May zöth, Holden had an interesting experience with a Great Horned Owl in the woods just to the northward of Lawrence's Pines. As he was paddling along dose to shore, the bird started from a tree nearly over him. It flew so slowly and heavily that he followed it back into the woods. It carried something in its feet which H. supposed to be a bird or Squirrel and which impeded its movements greatly. Indeed, after taking several flights, it alighted on the ground so completely exhausted that it allowed H. to walk directly up to it, when he discovered that its bürden was a Steel trap with a short piece of chain attached. One of its toes was caught in the jaws of the trap which it had apparently GREAT HORNED

157

Concord River been carrying about for several days. H. pressed it down firmly with his paddle and released it from the trap when it at once flew off to a considerable distance, pursued by a mob of Crows.

June i6, i^oi A t 9 A . M . Started down river in the open canoe. Landed at Birch Island and walked to the Farm. T o my great surprise, a Solitary Vireo was singing in the woods directly behind the barn. Where can he have come from at this late season? He sang steadily during the hour or more that I was within hearing and acted as if he were quite settled in this little isolated grove. Indeed, when I entered it to look for him he came directly to me, hopping about in an oak within a few yards of me, scolding me with the chattering cry which is common to both solitarius and flavifrons, and uttering also some low, exquisitely liquid notes. Presently he resumed singing again. He was a fine old bird with deep bluish head. soLiTARY viREo.

The female Hummer was sitting quietly on her nest when I passed under it at lo A.M. The Bats are roosting in the shed again. I found a bunch of seven in the inner Chamber and another of six in the outer one at the head of the stairs. They hang so closely clustered together that it is difficult to count them. They took absolutely no notice of me when I approached so near that my face was literally within six inches of them. Nor was there the slightest 158 BATS.

Concord River movement among them save that of the pulsations caused by their breathing. The bunch of seven seemed to be made up of two old ones and five young; at least, two were fully twice as large as the other five. The floor beneath them was covefed with their dung which resembled that of rats.

July 14, 1^01 C H i M N E Y SWIFT.

On Junc 8th we heard a Swift in the chimney

of the old cabin. On the i6th, 2 3rd, 2 9th and 3oth of this month, two birds spent at least a portion of the day as well as the entire night in this chimney. N o doubt they were there during the intervening days, also, but I was either at Lancaster or if at the cabin did not have an opportunity to observe them closely. On the morning of July ist, I examined the chimney carefully. It is about 16 feet in height with an almost perfectly straight 14 inch flue, lined rather smoothly with troweled mortar. From the fireplace in the lower cabin, which opens directly into it, one can see every part of the interior. The Swifts were chnging side by side to the middle of the face of the north wall, but there was not the slightest trace of a nest to be seen anywhere. I spent the following week at Lancaster, returning to Ball's Hill on July 8. The Swifts had built a nest during the Interim, attaching it to nearly the same spot where they were clinging on the ist. Apparently the nest was still unfinished for we could see through it in many places. N o r did they do anything 159

Concord River to amount to anything in the way of adding to the structure during the next seven days. On the 8th, pth, loth, iith, and iith, one or both of them spent more or less time in the chimney by day, and on several of these days they were there together, through the greater part of the day, sitting side by side in the nest, apparently doing nothing but rest and preen their feathers. Düring most of this period the weather was cool and much of the time cloudy. On [the] 13th and i4th, clear, bot days, the Swifts left the chimney soon after daybreak and did not once return to it until nearly dark. On the evening of the 13th, one of them came in at 7.40, the other at 7.50; on that of the i4th they returned practically together at 7.50. Their manner of entering and leaving the chimney varied. Sometimes the bird would descend to the nest or ascend from it by one continuous flight, during which it kept its body nearly horizontal and retarded the downward or accomplished the upward movement by rapidly beating its fully extended wings, the tips of which nearly touched the opposite sides of the narrow flue. Not infrequently, however, it would first alight just inside the mouth of the chimney and, after clinging there for a moment, begin descending by a succession of short flights, while the ascent was often performed in the same manner. During some of the short flights the bird used not only its wings but its feet, running, as it were, either up or down the vertical surface, within foot-reach of which it maintained its body by constantly vibrating its wings. Every such movement of the wings, whether of long or short continuance, was accompanied by the hollow (or rather 160

Concord River muffled) rumbling sound which one always hears so frequently in Summer in chimneys where Swifts are breeding. From some observations which I made when we were passing the summer of 1892 in the Tolman cottage in Concord, I concluded that this sound was sometimes produced intentionally rather than incidentally; or, to be more precise, that the birds sometimes extended and beat their wings for the express purpose of making the sound. I now doubt the accuracy of those earlier observations, for during the past week I have never seen the birds flutter their wings sufiiciently to produce the rumbling without at the same time changing their positions or at least their foothold. The bird which I took to be the female usually went directly or very quickly to the nest and alighted on its outer rim, where she would sometimes sit for hours, with her bill nearly touching the walls of the chimney. The tips of her folded wings extended out behind, half way across the flue, looking, when viewed from below, like two slender, curved, converging lines drawn on the field of bright light that entered the chimney from above. Her mate spent müch of his idle time clinging to the chimney just above the nest, but sometimes during the day, and invariably at the near approach of night, he woald crowd himself into the nest by his partner's side, taking exactly the same position which she habitually assumed. Long after dark, in fact usually up to the time when we went to bed, we heard the birds fluttering their wings or calling to one another at frequent intervals. Their vocal notes were the same as those which they use when Aying about by day but their twittering, when heard at night in this chimney, seemed to me infinitely more tender and musical than it ever is by day. I must confess that I could not understand why 161

Concord River they made the rumbling sound so much after they had settled themselves in the nest, since it is not likely that they were moving about the chimney in the darkness, but I finally concluded that one or the other was every now and then crowded off the nest and forced to use its wings, either to maintain or regain its Position. T h e y voided their excrement frequently at night. It was profuse in quantity and of the color and consistency of Cream. O n the morning of the 9th, I saw one of the birds, presumably the female, work for several minutes on the nest, Clinging to its outer edge with her neck elongated to a surprising length, she rubbed her half-opened bill over the ends and surfaces of the twigs, evidently coating them with her varnish which I could distinctly see glistening in the rather strong hght that entered the chimney from above. This was the only occasion during the week when either Gilbert or I saw her do anything to the nest. Certainly no sticks were added to it during our stay, for the meshes of the sUght framework were as open and numerous when we left the cabin on the morning of the i j t h as when we reached it on the forenoon of the 8th. Both Swifts when in the chimney spent much of their time preening their feathers in the manner of other birds. T h e y also frequently used one foot to Scratch their heads while the other was employed to retain their hold on the nest or the wall of the chimney. T h e y frequently twitched their folded wings, sometimes together but oftener alternately. Invariably and at all times when they were in the chimney they both kept their tails spread to the füllest possible extent. In clinging to the walls of the chimney, they used their tails as supports after the manner 162

Concord River of Creepers or Woodpeckers, but when they perched on the edge of the nest their tails hung loosely down beneath their folded wings.

July 22, i^oi Shortly after sunrise this morning a family of Blue Jays consisting of four or five young with at least one of their parents came into the oaks near the cabin. The young, as they followed their mother from tree to tree, kept up a succession of squeaUng cries very like those of a wellgrown pig. They were fully grown and in flight and actions were undistinguishable from the old bird. The latter screamed once or twice. I did not see any of them obtain any kind of food. NOTES OF YOUNG BLUE J A Y S .

October ii,

ipoi

As I passed Davis's Hill, I saw four or five small birds in the top of a tall birch, hopping and flitting about among the terminal twigs. They acted so very like Warbiers that I was surprised, on approaching nearer, to find that they were all White-throated Sparrows. The birches are infested with immense numbers of small greenish insects ('"mealy bugs," Mrs. John Thayer teils me Charles Sargent calls them) and the Sparrows were apparently eating them. I get simply covered with them every time I pass through a thicket of birches for they shake down in showers whenever the stems are jolted. 163

Concord River I have never before seen Swamp Sparrows so numerous along Concord River as they were this morning. I could hear them chirping in the grass in every direction and I saw a dozen or more Aying from place to place or perched on the taller reeds. . . .

October 75, i^oi SKUNK.

Taking a short walk behind Ball's Hill this morning,

I Started a Hermit Thrush and saw several Yellow-rumps, three or four Jays, a Golden-crest and a Black-poll Warbier. Some freshly-thrown-out earth by the side of the path attracted my attention to a hole six or eight inches in width by about a foot in depth which a Skunk had evidently excavated, for his footprints were plainly visible. Directly in front of this shallow burrow lay two large pieces and several small fragments of the comb of the Yellow Jacket Hörnet. Although none of the cells were injured, they were all quite empty save one which contained a dead larva. Only a few days ago we dug out a nest of these Hornets and found all the cells stored with honey and in nearly all the plump whitish larvae. From this I infer that after pulling out the comb the Skunk must have managed in some way to extract all the honey and larvae. If his nest was as well-stored as Ours, he must have had a rieh feast. N o doubt his thick für protected him from the stings of the adult Hornets or they may have been torpid at night when his raid was probably made. It is not likely that he would have dug out an old nest and the fresh appearance of the comb as well as the presence of the dead 164

Concord River larva showed conclusively that the nest was not an old one. Skunks have not been as common in this neighborhood this year as they usually are; at least I have seen but few of their signs, even during the season when the turtles were laying.

Concord, March 22, 1^02 Bluebiids and Song Sparrows began singing soon after daybreak; Robins not until sunrise; FUckers and a Phoebe still later. The Bluebirds warbled almost continuously all day long. I do not think that I have ever before had such a positive surfeit of their music — if anything so delightful can be so called. They are at their very best now. A vk^eek or two later they will not sing so often nor with such spirit and fervor. There were two males near the house all the forenoon, one of them accompanied by a female who inspected all the holes and bird houses, Aying to the entrance of each and looking in, but not entering any of them. BiRDS siNGiNG AT DAYBREAK.

The Robins were silent through the day but one sang for nearly half-an-hour at evening in the top of an elm nearly over the house. He had a strong, pure and very perfectly modulated voice. The season is wonderfully forward — I might perhaps say, without gross exaggeration, unprecedentedly so. Certainly I cannot recall a year when at this date everything was so far advanced. Mosquitos were numerous and actually EARLY SEASON.

165

Concord River troublesome in the woods this afternoon — something unheard of, if I am not mistaken in my recollection. One of them bit me sharply and a dozen or more tried to do so. All that I caught and examined were of the malarial kind (Anopheles) with spotted wings. There are many in the upper rooms of the farmhouse and the cellar is swarming with them. All, of course, must have lived through the winter. I saw Butterflies of three different kinds to-day, Antiopa and two reddish-brown ones of different sizes, one with deeply scalloped wings. I also started a small moth. Several Wood Frogs were croaking in the afternoon and a dozen or more Hylas peeped for a short time just before sunset. As the sun was sinking below the horizon and some time before the Robins and Song Sparrows had ceased singing, a Woodcock began peeping in the brushgrown pasture beyond the brook on the western side of the road. He did not go up, however, for fifteen or twenty minutes later after which he rose and sang at unusually short intervals. I do not think that I have ever before heard a bird that had so rieh and powerful a voice. Considered critically and comparatively it was without question highly musical, much more so, I thought, than the voice of any Bluebird. I watched the bird through one entire flight but noted nothing new. It was, in fact, the regulation thing in every way. I do not think, however, that I have ever before known a Woodcock when singing regularly to alight and peep in a different place after each descent, as this bird did. He invariably chose a grassy opening i66 SONG OF THE w o o D c o c K .

Concord River of which there are many among the blueberry bushes in this pasture. Perhaps I should note that on one occasion when he was descending I was nearly certain that I heard the wingwhisding and the song notes at one and the same time. Horned Larks were about all the morning. I did not see them but heard their piping flight calls a dozen different times. There was also a Red-shouldered Hawk screaming in the distance towards Lawrence's woods. In the afternoon I heard a Purple Finch (the call note only) in the orchard. The grass is faintly green on sunny banks. It was vividly so on some of the Cambridge lawns yesterday. A t evening I heard several Fox Sparrows lisping among some young white pines near Pulpit Rock but I listened in vain for the song. The birds were apparently seeking roosts for the night.

March WOODCOCK SINGS AT IG P . M .

ipo2

After I went to bed last night I

heard the Wcodcock peeping and singing until I feil asleep, or from about 10 to 10.30 P.M.

He rose and sang every two or

three minutes. It was bright moonlight at the time. I do not remember ever hearing one sing in the middle of the night before. He was peeping this evening when I got to the pasture at 6.15, although the Song Sparrows were still singing. He made his first ascent at 6.25. I had him continually within the field of 167

Concord River my glass through this and four succeeding song flights. He invariably rose and flew for loo yards or more (rising at a very slight angle) directly against the wind which was north and rather strong at the time. Then he would turn and begin mounting on a steep, spiral incline. Once he turned to the left, four times to the right. He regularly rose to a height of fully 300 feet before beginning to descend. Düring the entire ascent his wings vibrated incessantly and his whistling was continuous. When it became broken, I saw with absolute distinctness that during each pause or interval his ivings ceased beating for an instant. I do not think they were moved at all from the time he got his song fairly started to that when he reached the earth, but they were vibrated a few times at the beginning of the song and I could distinctly hear their whistling sound mingling with the vocal notes. During the song the bird was constantly descending, at first on long, easy inclines, finally by a succession of short, steep pitches at the end of which he checked himself suddenly for a moment just as the Skylark does. The song ceased when he was about eighty feet above the earth and his final and silent descent to it was made on set wings, nearly vertically and with arrowy swiftness. EVIDENCE INDICATING THAT T H E F E M A L E

WOODCOCK

UTTERS

While this bird was in the air, rising for his second song flight, I was surprised to hear another peep once just beyond a stone wall and very near me. When the first bird returned to the earth and began peeping again, the second answered him several times in precisely the same tone. After this it peeped intermittently, a dozen times perhaps, always 168 BOTH P E E P AND P T - L NOTES.

Concord River when the other bird was on the ground and peeping steadily. A t first I thought it was another male and that it would presently mount into the air and sing, but as it did not do so and as its peeping was at no time steady and persistent, I finally concluded that it was the singer's mate, although I have never before suspected that the female Woodcock Utters the Nighthawk-like pa-ap. This bird also gave the preliminary pt-l, as well. If I am right in thinking that it was a female, both these sounds must be really only call notes. I once heard a wing-broken Woodcock utter the pa-ap just as I was about to seize it — or perhaps just after I had taken it in my hand. I cannot now remember which.

March 50, 1^02 CANADA GEESE.

Walter Deane came from Cambridge and R a y -

mond Emerson from Concord late this afternoon to hear the Woodcock. W e went to the pasture soon after 6 o'clock. R a y mond was telling me that his brother William had seen a large flock of Geese passing northward this morning when I heard faintly but distinctly in the direction of Punkatassett Hill the note of a Canada Goose. The sound increased in volume and frequency until the air was filled with the strangely thrilling, sonorous clamor. A moment later the flock appeared at a height so great that its members appeared scarce larger than Swallows. There were over 100 of the noble birds (I counted 1 1 2 roughly) arranged at first in a double harrow, later strung out in a line hundreds of yards in length. T h e y were moving directly north169

Concord River ward and long after they had passed beyond our vision their honking came distinctly to our ears. Soon aftcr the Wild Geese had disappeared, we heard the Woodcock. He began peeping at rather long and irregulär intervals among the alders and then flew to his regulär Station in the little opening where I saw him last evening. His first song flight was normal and we watched him through the whole of it without difficulty. The second time he rose, he flew about 50 yards and dropped into an opening beyond a stone wall where another bird, probably his mate, had been peeping intermittently. A few seconds later he rose again and performed his usual song flight. This was repeated three or four times in succession, i.e. for three or four successive times he flew from the peeping Station and alighted for an instant beyond the wall before making his usual ascent and singing. Each of the preliminary flights was low and direct (just high enough to clear the tops of the bushes) and during each the bird uttered a low but distinct and incisive grating sound almost exactly like that made by a Red Squirrel while engaged in biting through the shell of a hickory nut. Both of my companions thought this the best comparison that could be suggested. There can be no question that this sound was produced by [the] flying bird which, as I could see distinctly, by his small size, was a male. Our Impression was that it was a low call addressed to his mate, but we did not see the other bird at all. She (if it was a female) peeped a good deal this evening, but at no time very regularly. She seemed to us to be in a grassy opening about 50 yards from 170 LOVE NOTES OF T H E WOODCOCK.

Concord River where the male peeped. I have never heard the grating call before. It lasted perhaps three or four seconds on each occasion. Awaking in the middle of the night (at about 2 A.M., I should say by guess) I heard the Woodcock peep three or four times in the pasture across the road.

April 4, 1^02 FOX SPARROWS.

The three Fox Sparrows which Gilbert saw

here on the 2nd and which I found on my arrival last evening were about the cabin most of the forenoon, feeding on the millet seed which we put out for them. One of them sang sotto voce (almost in a whisper, so low were most of the notes) at sunrise and two were in füll song for fifteen or twenty minutes at about eight o'clock. It was a great treat to hear their wild and superbly rieh and perfectly modulated voices once more, for I was beginning to fear that I should miss the privilege this year. I also heard the tsup call and the low, chiding chatter they make while feeding, besides of course the strong, lisping chirp. A PHOEBE ALIGHTS AND SINGS ON A S H E L F IN T H E CABIN.

THERC

was a Phoebe in füll song near the cabin, another at Bensen's, a third across the river and a fourth at the Farm. As I was lying in bed this morning the Ball's Hill bird sang several times near the open window of the upper room and a moment later entered it and, perching on a pile of magazines on a shelf near my bed, uttered his sweetly-harsh phoe-be-e-e,

phoe-bee several times.

I have repeatedly, in former years, known either this bird or 171

Concord River another to enter the lower cabin and on one occasion Gilbert saw him alight on an iron rod over the fire-place. . . . Wood Frogs have nearly ceased croaking; H y las were peeping by hundreds this evening; the Leopard Frogs have apparently not fairly begun yet for I heard only two today. BATRACHiANS.

April II,

ipo2

Shortly after sunset, as I was nearing the cabin, following the river path, I saw about 60 yards ahead of me Standing erect in the middle of this path a fine cock partridge. He had evidently come down from the hill to drink, for he was on the very edge of the water, which had partly crossed the path to-day. I stopped and watched him for several minutes. He evidently saw me, for he seemed ill at ease and for some time kept up the peculiar low growling sound which Partridges make when disturbed or suspicious. Presently he began Walking away from me, keeping in the middle of the path and following the water's edge closely. He carried his tail raised and frequently twitched his expanded ruffs in an abrupt, nervous manner suggesting irritation. After growling for half a minute or more, he called quet, quet a number of times and then began making the chittering or snickering sound which so closely resembles that of the Red Squirrel. At length he left the path and began making his way up the steep hillside. I now increased my pace and he at once did the same 172

Concord River until he finally made a short quick gliding run and then took flight. While in the path his gait was a rather slow and highly dignified walk. Altogether I had him in view for fully three minutes. The Ball's Hill Partridges are so accustomed to our presence and so fully assured that we mean them no harm that we often see them on the ground but it is seldom that I have as prolonged a view of one as I enjoyed on this occasion.

May 10, ipo2 At Bensen's landing we saw three Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, two fine males and a female, feeding in Company in the top of a small gray birch less than ten feet above the ground. They kept dose together, much of the time within six or eight inches of one another, and the two male birds seemed to be on the best of terms. The female is the first I have seen this season. As I was watching these birds, I could not help wondering why they are equipped with such ponderous and massive bills. So far as I know they never eat other than soft food. . . .

May 12, 1^02 At about 8 A . M . as Bowditch, Nichols and I were standing near the cabin, we heard a sound which we at first mistook for that of a Pigeon's wings. The next instant a bird which looked, through the trees, like a whitish Pigeon, appeared Over the crest of Ball's Hill. It proved, however, to be a male

MARSH HAWK.

173

Concord River Marsh Hawk. He was Aying in an unusual manner and continued to do so until he had passed beyond our sight over the Great Meadows. Pursuing an almost perfectly direct course and beating his wings with a continuous loose, easy, gull-Uke motion, never once scahng or inchning to either side, he would nevertheless dip downward on a rather long and gentle decline every few hundred [feet] or so, at the beginning of each sweep turning over on one side and at its termination, on the other, without for an instant ceasing flapping, however. At each descent he made the sound already mentioned, but after the first repetition it ceased to remind us of the winnowing of wings (it was, no doubt, softened by distance and intervening trees the first time) for it possessed an unmistakable nasal and rather vibrant quality and seemed to be of vocal origin.

Nichols

thought it resembled the grating sound of a Squirrel's teeth on the shell of a hickory nut, but to me it suggested rather the haha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

of [a] White-belhed Nuthatch. There were,

I think, at least seven syllables and they were given very rapidly and all on the same key. It is many years since I have seen a Marsh Hawk dive and chattet before, but as I recall the previous experiences the birds have plunged much nearly vertically and many times over nearly the same spot. This bird simply kept straight on, as I have said. His manner of flight reminded US all strongly of that of a Nighthawk. . . . Vegetation has advanced slowly of late. Indeed, the general aspect of the woods and thickets has changed but little during the past week. Save on the white willows and river maples, the foliage is not as yet sufficiently dense to afford concealment to a small bird and the Tanagers are conspicuous enough in the oak 174

Concord River woods where the leaves are still in that exquisite pink and salmon stage which follows their first unfolding. T h e shad bush is out of bloom; the rhodora nearly so. I saw the first ladies' slipper yesterday.

Jwie

1, 1^02

I came to Concord late yesterday afternoon to stay at the cabin until to-morrow. Roland H e y w a r d spent last night and most of to-day with me. . . . STRANGE GRY

ox

MARSH.

As

WC

approached the canoe land-

ing at Ball's Hill yesterday afternoon, we heard, borne on the fresh east wind from Holden's meadow, a peculiar loud, harsh cry wholly new to me. Rowing down river a short distance we located the sound in an extensive bed of tall, flooded grass (chiefly "blue joint") on the bank of the river near the düster of willows and white maples above Päd Island. It ceased when we got near the spot but v/as resumed soon after we left it. A t 10.15 P-M. I heard precisely the same cry issuing from the meadows opposite Ball's Hill near the thicket of button bushes which Least Bitterns sometimes frequent. I listened to it for nearly half an hour and could hear it coming at short intervals from the same direction up to the time I went to sleep (about 1 1 . 1 5 P.M.).

A t 7 A.M. this morning I went to Holden's meadow and heard the same sound coming from the same spot where it was heard yesterday afternoon; and between 5.30 and 6 o'clock this afternoon the creature was again calling almost continually, but when I visited the meadow at 6.30 P.M., equipped with rubber

175

Concord River boots, it had become silent. I waded all over the place but neither saw nor heard anything unusual. The water proved to be from six to ten inches deep among the tall grass, but there were a few mounds or tussocks which rose above it. I notcd the cry carefully on the spot, both last night and this morning. On the former occasion (i.e. when heard across the river after LO P.M.) it was repeated every two to four seconds as long as I was listening, but this morning and afternoon it would be given five or six times at about these intervals, when its author would remain silent for a minute or more before resuming it again. It usually began with a short note very like the cac of a Crow Blackbird or, as Roland and Gilbert thought, like that of a Red-wing, which was immediately followed by a harsh, vibrating ki-ar-arr-r-r-r or a-a-a-a-a, also suggestive of one of the cries of the Crow Blackbird — the husky, scolding one which this Blackbird gives oftenest when its nesting haunts are invaded. There was no dose similarity in respect to this part of the cry, however, but only as I have said a suggestion of resemblance. The voice was much louder than that of any Blackbird and also more penetrating.

ANOTHER "ORNITHOLOGICAL MYSTERY."

The cry lasted for one-half to three-quarters of a second (timed with a stop watch) and I noted the following variations: Kh-ket-ker-ä-ä-ä-ä-ä (the a sounded as ah) Kh-ket-ä-ä-ä-ä-ä (the a sounded as ah) TT" \ .

\

\

\

Ket-a-a-a-a-a Ar-ä-ä-ä-ä-ä Ke-ä-ä-ä-ä-ä 176

\

\

Concord River A t distances within forty yards, the ket was distinctly as rendered above, from forty to sixty yards it sounded more like cut, beyond the latter distance like the cac of a Blackbird, as already noted. The whole call when heard at forty or fifty yards might be roughly rendered as cüt-cüt-cä-däh-r-r-r-r,

suggesting, indeed,

the cry of a hen who has just laid an egg, with the terminal of the hen omitted. There can be little doubt that the author of these stränge cries was a bird, probably a Rail or Gallinule of some kind. I also believe that I heard two different individuals yesterday.

]une 16, 1^02 BLUE JAYS.

Yesterday afternoon I found a Blue J a y sitting on

her nest which was placed in a fork in the main trunk of a white oak ten or twelve inches in diameter just below the fork, which was about fifteen feet above the ground. The tree stands by the side of the path which leads from the old to the new cabin. I had Seen both the Jays together in its top earlier in the day, surrounded by a number of excited and irate little birds. I begin to believe that there is some truth in the Statement (made, originally, by I know not whom) that predacious animals seek their victims at some distance from their own homes. If it be not so in the case of the Jays, at least, it is hard to understand w h y this pair of birds have spared a Robin's nest in the white pine which grows against the front of our wood-shed and a Red-eyed Vireo's nest suspended among the terminal twigs of

177

Concord River a drooping branch of another small pine, directly over the path about thirty feet beyond the wood-shed and scarce fifty feet frort! Gilbert's cabin.

June ip, ipo2 RAID M A D E B Y A CROW ON T H E S M A L L BIRDS NESTING N E A R T H E

At about 8.30 A . M . , I was awakened by the clamorous cries of several small birds which were evidently greatly excited about something. A Grosbeak was especially vociferous, keeping up a continuous shrill, almost shrieking outcry. Gilbert, who was also aroused by the sound, arose and looking out of his east window saw a Crow fly from an oak just behind the stone wood-shed, bearing a good-sized, grayish-colored object in his bin. It was perhaps a young Grosbeak. CABIN.

T H E R E D - E Y E ' S N E S T A T T H E CABIN TORN DOWN, PROBABLY B Y

A CAT. On making a tour of inspection some two hours later, I found the Robin's nest in the pine in front of the wood-shed undisturbed; but the Red-eye's nest had been torn forcibly from the fork which had supported it and, empty and almost shapeless, lay in the middle of the foot-path several yards from the tree. I could discover no traces of the young or unhatched egg which it held last night but a number of olivaceous-tipped feathers evidently from the back of the parent Vireo lay scattered about on the ground or clung to the lining of the nest. They were so soaked and matted with dew as to suggest that the deed of violence had been committed at some time during the 178

Concord River night, while the shreds of the nest which still adhered to the pine branch were disposed in such a way as to lead me to think that the nest had been pulled down from beneath, probably by the cat whose tracks I found in the sandy path near the cabin. The Blue Jay was sitting quietly on her nest at 7 a.m., nor did she join in the outcry at the earlier hour.

August BiTTERNS.

1^02

A t the head of the " H o l t " we passed within 20

yards of a Bittern which was standing erect and motionless on the bank. The grass had been recently cut and removed and there was absolutely nothing left that could afford the bird the least concealment. His neck was stretched up to its füll length, his bill pointing straight upward. He turned his head from side to side every few seconds but made no other motion. In spite of his large size and conspicuous position his coloring matched his general surroundings so admirably that we nearly passed without seeing him. After we had got some 200 yards above him, he flew across the river and ahghted under some maples. COWBIRDS.

Just above Red Bridge we saw five or six Cow-

birds on the ground in a pasture among some Cows. Whenever one of the latter animals started on ahead of the rest, the Cowbirds would ränge themselves on each side dose to its lowered muzzle and run rapidly on just ahead of it.

179

Concord River October 2, 1902 COOPER'S H A W K C A C K L I N G IN A U T Ü M N .

AS

I was watching the

Vireos I suddenly heard the barking kck; kck;

kek-heh-heh-

heh-heh-heh of a Cooper's Hawk. The bird was evidently within thirty or forty yards but he kept so closely concealed among the dense white pines that I did not get a sight at him. He repeated his outcry three or four times within the next ten minutes. I do not think that I have ever heard it before in the autumn. It was precisely the same as during the breeding season. All the while that he was calling, two Partridges were drumming in different directions within sixty yards of the spot where I imagined him to be. Neither they nor the chuckmg Chipmunks nor the small birds flitting about in the branches Over me seemed to suspect or at least to regard the near presence of the merciless Accipker.

I saw either him or another of his

kind Aying high over the farm-house an hour later. M y men say that he has been harrying the Pigeons of late and that he caught one of them (a white bird) a few days ago, while on another occasion he frightened them so badly that the entire flock departed and were absent an entire day. Pat teils me that he alighted in one of the big elms that shade the house yesterday morning, when the Pigeons dashed into the barn and woodshed, remaining there until the Hawk departed.

180

Pair of Snipe

Concord River October 28, 1^02 S A W - W H E T CALLS.

Undcf datc of October 1 1 th I noted hearing

in Prescott's Pines at evening an cu;, ow which seemed familiar but which I could not refer to its author. . . . The Thayers (Abbott and Gerald) and I heard it again last evening, indistinctly and mingled with certain other sounds wholly new to me. W e had seated ourselves on the border of a wood road which leads through some dense white pines just to the northward of the Green Field and had remained there for upwards of half-anhour, abstaining from conversation and all movement but "squeaking" every few minutes in the hope of attracting something of interest. Meanwhile twilight had faded into night and the gloom under the trees had become so deep that we could scarce see one another's faces. Suddenly we heard a confused medley of low, slight sounds, some of them nasal and whining, others odd little chuckling or wheezy noises and among them, indistinctly as I have just said and given but once, the oiü note which Gerald considered almost certain evidence that we were listening to a Saw-whet. Without question the creature was a bird of some kind, for it was moving from place to place in the trees and once we heard it strike against a dry, resonant pine branch, probably alighting on it abruptly as Owls are wont to do. It came within about thirty yards of us and after that we heard no more of it. Our squeaking also attracted some fairly large mammal, a Fox we thought, which approached rather noisily on the ground and then, getting our wind, made off again.

Concord River November 4, 1^02 The country is now almost completely drained of its summer resident birds and early and mid-autumn migrants. The last Bluebirds, Robins and Rusty Blackbirds departed nearly a week ago and the Titlarks have nearly all gone. I saw a stray Chippy on the 2nd and heard a Yellow-rump to-day. Chickadees, Kinglets, Creepers, Crows, Jays, Goldfinches, and Partridges with an occasional Downy or Hairy Woodpecker or Flicker are now about the only birds I am likely to find in these woods during a morning's tramp. I saw the first Tree Sparrow to-day. The Juncos have nearly all gone. N o one has seen any Quail on the Farm of late but at daybreak this morning one whistled loudly a number of times very near the house. Every morning the Crows congregate to the number of fifty or more in a cornfield on the Holden farm where the stooks are still standing and when the air is still they make a prodigious clamor. Our com has been harvested but the Jays still come to the field to search for stray kernels which the Pigeons and Squirrels have overlooked. The Gray Squirrels followed the com into our open shed and boldly seized and made off with the ears while the men were at work "husking." The Red Squirrels have not molested the com at all. T w o Tree Crickets {Acanthus nivaeiis) were chirping steadily, if somewhat slowly, near the house last evening.

182

Concord River November GREAT HORNED

owLS.

8, 1^02

A t 2.15 P.M. I hcard a Great Horned

O w l hoot Over in the dense pines on the Prescott Hill. T h e sun was shining brightly at the time and there was almost no wind stirring. About two hours later (4.20 p. M.) a pair of these Owls began a wonderful serenade to which I Kstened attentively and with the keenest enjoyment f o r upwards of half-an-hour, when both became silent. One of them within fifty yards of me in the large dense pines on the ridge above the Glacial Hollow invariably uttered five notes: hoo, hoo-hoo-, hoo-, hoo. There was regularly a short but well-marked pause after the first note; the second and third notes were given in rapid succession; a carefully-measured and impressively long interval followed the third note, while the interval between the fourth and fifth notes was about half as long as that between the first and second notes and that separating the third and fourth. T h e bird's voice was, I think, the deepest and most sonorous that I have ever listened to from any Bubo, while the carefully measured intervals made it tremendously impressive. T h e other bird was apparently about two hundred yards distant and somewhere on Davis's Hill. Its hooting was radically different. Usually it uttered eight notes {hoo,

hoo-hoo-hoo,

hoo-hoo-hoo,

hoo) but occasionally there were nine

hoo-hoo-hoo,

hoo-hoo-hoo,

{hoo-hoo,

hoo). Its voice was lighter and more

woodeny than that of the first bird and its notes given so rapidly that the commas which I have just used to separate them should perhaps have been omitted. Indeed the notes followed one an183

Concord River other in nearly if not quite as quick succession as do those of the Barred Owl. Usually this bird hooted in response to its mate, but on two occasions it uttered the füll series of notes just described, twice in rapid succession. On one of these occasions the first set of notes was begun before its mate had quite finished and in so high and querulous a key as to strongly suggest that it had suddenly lost its temper at something that the other was saying and had given vent to instant and angry contradiction or expostulation. If I am not greatly mistaken, this bird's hooting was similar in respect to the number of notes and not dissimilar in quality of tone to the hooting of the honking Owl at Lake Umbagog. Indeed I begin to suspect strongly that the latter was, after all, nothing but a Bubo, but thus far I have not heard this Concord bird honk. Both of these Owls are, no doubt, the birds which inhabit and breed in Lawrence's woods. I am surprised at the limited area which they ränge over. Apparently it does not much exceed two hundred acres. At least I have never heard (or seen) either of them to the eastward of the river, to the southward of Ball's Hill or to the westward of our farmhouse. T o the northward of their stronghold there are few extensive woods and I do not think they wander far in that direction. Certainly most of their time is spent, both by night and day, in Lawrence's woods and Prescott's Pines, a combined tract of dense, heavy evergreen woods (chiefly white pines) covering not more than thirty acres.

184

Concord River May 6, ipo^ Walked to Ball's Hill via Prescott's Pines and Davis's Hill in the early morning and to Bensen's in the late afternoon. Noted no new birds but the numbcrs of several of the species which have come within the past week seemed to have been greatly augmented. Thus Oven-birds, Black-throated Green Warbiers, and Black and White Creepers appeared to be abundant for the first time. There were a dozen or more Yellow-rumps in the oaks about the cabin and I heard at least two Yellow Red-polls (one singing). A Hermit Thrush was singing near the south end of Green Field in Prescott's Pines about 8 A.M. and again from 6 to 7 P.M. I have heard Hermits in song here before, but none of them have ever sung like this bird. He made the woods fairly ring and kept it up unceasingly. I could hear him distinctly from the western end of Birch Field on the one side and from Davis's Hill on the other. He was a remarkably fine singer. I cannot help hoping that he may have chosen these woods for his Summer haunts but the chances are, of course, that he is merely a belated migrant on his way further North. There were two Doves, evidently a pair, at the western extremity of Prescott's Pines this morning. The male cooed several times while the Hermit Thrush was singing just beyond and a Grass Finch chanting in the field on the left — altogether a notable bird concert. As I was engaged in planting some shrubs in the meadow below the orchard this forenoon, I heard one of the Cooper's Hawks cackling in the woods beyond. Presently it appeared — 185

Concord River the male bird — at a considerable height above the trees, Aying in circles with a peculiar loose, butterfly-like beat of the wings, every now and then swooping downward thirty or forty feet and pitching sharply upward again, at each descent uttering its cac-cac-cac-cac-cac. The whole performance was closely similar to that of a Marsh Hawk and indeed I mistook the bird at first for that species as I did not know that the Cooper's Hawk ever indulges in anything of the kind. N o doubt it was a "showing off" flight pecuhar to the mating season. The Phoebe is sitting on her eggs under the eaves of the old barn. As I was passing this morning the male came from the direction of the woods uttering his ure-til call. On hearing it the female at once left the nest and took a long straight flight off through the orchard, passing her mate in her course within a yard or two. I expected to see him turn and follow her but instead he went directly to the nest and, after poising directly in front of it for an instant to satisfy himself that everything was safe, he took his Station on a branch of an elm only a few yards away and remained there, alert and still, evidently on guard while the female was absent getting her breakfast. I was unable to watch him long but I have no doubt that he kept his vigil until his mate returned. I wonder if Audubon notes this habit in his memorable biography of the Phoebe. Hitherto I have supposed that Partridges "bud" only in autumn, winter and early spring or, to speak in general terms, only when the trees are bare of leaves. About seven o'clock this evening, however, I started a bird from the apple tree directly in front of the barn (the tree where I saw nine Partridges budding at once one morning a year ago last March). This bird i86

Concord River flew from a branch directly over my head and about twenty feet above the ground. The tree was snowy with blossoms which were all fully unfolded. If the Partridge was not eating the blossoms or leaf buds I cannot imagine what it was doing there. It was long after sunset (about 7 P.M.) and twilight was falling. Pat teils me that George Holden found a Partridge's nest containing nineteen eggs last Saturday (May 2) somewhere in the woods near Ball's Hill. T w o birds were drumming to-day on the Farm.

April 12, CAROLINA DOVE ON ROOF OF SHED.

ipo)

As I was Standing motionless

among the oaks on the hillside path east of the cabins, a Carolina Dove cooed very near me. Presently I saw the bird perched on the roof of the horse-shed. It remained there for upwards of 20 minutes, preening its feathers, occasionally Walking a few steps on the flat graveled roof, now and then cooing. It seemed as much at home there as a tarne Pigeon. When it cooed, it lowered its head to below the level of its shoulders and puffed out its ehest. It was a trim, graceful creature of eminently refined, quiet bearing, indulging in no sudden or undignified movements or postures until it caught sight of me, when it began bobbing its head up and down and jerking its tail in the most energetic manner. Sometim.es it raised its tail sharply, sometimes it depressed it like a Phoebe, once or twice it moved it sideways. These Doves are very numerous here this spring. I saw 8 together in 187

Concord River Birch Field on the pth. The solemn, measured cooing is ever in my ears as I stroll through the pitch pines that line the edges of harren fields.

May 5, ipo^ Shortly aftCI sunset, as I was Standing in front of the cabin, the wind which had been blowing violently from the south-west all the afternoon changed suddenly to east, and the temperature feil rapidly. A few moments later great numbers of Swallows appeared, Coming from the north-east at a considerable height and dropping on set wings under the lee side of the hill, afterwards drifting off out of sight Over the meadows. I must have seen 300 or 400 in the course of a few minutes. Their flight was so peculiar that I could not identify them by sight. They used their wings but little, merely soaring or floating as they drifted before the wind. Judging by their calls, the majority were Barn Swallows but I also heard the notes of Bank and Tree Swallows. There were no Swifts among them, but I saw four Swifts flying in Company Over the hill earlier in the day. PECULIAR FLIGHT OF S W A L L O W S A T E V E N I N G .

May 14, 1^0$ CEDAR BIRD EATING P E T A L S OF A P P L E BLOSSOMS.

The apple

trees at the Farm were in füll bloom to-day. On one of them we found a party of 5 Cedar Birds (these, by the way, are also new to my season's list here) all of which were busily engaged in 188

Concord River picking off and devouring the petals of the blossoms. I watched them at dose ränge (about 20 feet) for fully 15 minutes. Düring this time each bird must have eaten a dozen or more petals. These were sometimes swallowed whole (not without some difficulty), sometimes torn into halves before being swallowed. As the birds remained nearly motionless the whole time, simply bending down and taking the petals within easy reach without exercising any apparent choice, I was convinced that they were eating only the petals and not selecting those that may have had insects on them. This habit of the Cedar Bird (if it be really a habit) is quite new to me.

June /j, SWIFTS.

ipos

There are apparently four pairs of Swifts established

on this place. One pair occupy a chimney in the Bungalow, there are two pairs in the chimneys of the old house and one pair in the lowest chimney of the Ritchie house. I saw one of the last named birds drop into the chimney this evening carrying a short twig held crossways in its bill. A dead bird was found in one of the Chambers of this house a f e w days ago. One came down the parlor flue of the farm-house last evening and fluttered against the fire screen for some time. When I let it out into the room, it flew feebly about for a f e w seconds and then fluttered down to the floor where it lay with outstretched wings. I caught it and, thrusting my arm up the flue, released it, when it mounted upward and, judging by the sound of its wings, flew straight out of the chimney. It is pleasant to hear the rumble of 189

Concord River Swifts' wings and afterwards their joyous twittering as they drop into our chimney when we are at tea these warm evenings. I saw five together to-night, careering just over the tops of our elms.

October i, i^o^ About noon Mr. Forbush and I were standing in front of the cabin when we heard a continuous low vibrant sound not unhke the ratthng of a Rattie Snake. It proved to come from a small Wood Frog which a rather large Leopard Frog was swallowing head first. The sound ceased before we found the Frogs, but there was no question as to its origin. FROGS.

As I was crossing Mr. Howes pasture about 2 P.M. I saw a large Woodchuck flattened out on rather bare, newly-seeded ground, some forty yards off. I flung a stone at him but he did not move. Continuing to pelt him with stones, I approached him slowly to within jour feet. He neither moved nor threatened. As I began to circle around him, he made a rush for his hole, which I had up to that time unwittingly cut him off from! wooDCHUCK.

May wHiTE-THROATED

sPARROws.

1^06

Twelve White-throated Spar-

rows spent most of the day on the ground under the diningroom windows, where we scatter hemp seed nearly every 190

Concord River morning. They remained here for hours at a time and when not feeding stood or crouched in the short grass, keeping perfectly motionless with their heads raised. The white stripes on their crowns evidently made them less, instead of more, conspicuous. More than half of them were in fully mature plumage. They sang a good deal but without much spirit, even in the early morning. When searching for the hemp seeds, they often scratched a little after the manner of Fox Sparrows, that is, by first jumping forward and then backward. I have seen Juncos and Song Sparrows do precisely the same thing here this spring but no one of these bird Scratches nearly as often or as vigorously as does the Fox Sparrow. The Song Sparrows and Juncos both walk a good deal with a pretty mincing gait. DUCK HAWK. As William Stone and I were strolling in the field across the road from the farm-house this afternoon, a male Duck Hawk passed us within fifty yards. It was flying swiftly but heavily, about twenty feet above the ground, carrying in its talons a bird that looked as large as a Pigeon and which was probably a Carohna Dove. As it approached the road, it tried to rise above the bordering trees, but, failing in this, apparently because of the weight of its bürden, it passed directly through them. A moment later, however, it appeared above them in the direction of the pines, keeping on to the south-east until lost to sight in the distance beyond the Ritchie place. Stone was perfectly sure that the bird was a Duck Hawk, and I had no doubts on this point. We both saw the blackish crown, the bluish back, and the characteristic tail-markings with perfect distinctness. The sharp, powerful wings were vibrated rapidly 191

Concord River and incessantly as long as the bird was in sight. It came from the westward where the country is densely wooded for miles. I have never seen a Duck Hawk in such a place before.

May 7, ipo6 Last night about ten o'clock we heard a Fox bark a score or more times very near the farm-house. He was either in the field in front of the house or in the run just beyond it. His voice was very loud and it fairly rang in the still air. The sound was weird and impressive. Purdie thought it resembled the outcry of some human being in dire distress. It had a throttled or choking quality despite its strength. T o one who was ignorant as to its origin, it would have been a truly startling cry. It was invariably the same or nearly so. I wonder why the creature called so long and earnestly. W e heard no response. Rain was falling at the time and the night was very dark.

May 8, ipo6 DowNY wooDPECKER.

The Downy Woodpeckers are still at

work almost ceaselessly on their nest in the dead branch of the tall elm by our wood-shed. The female was working there this afternoon from 2 to 3 o'clock. At the latter hour, she shoveled out a lot of chips and then came out herseif, Aying to another branch of the tree and basking there in the sun for ten or fifteen minutes. I have not seen her mate to-day. While she 192

Concord River was at work, my carpenters were making a still louder pounding on a door which they were putting together directly under the elm. Their noise evidently did not disturb her in the least. The elm branch is evidently very hard and the nest must be carried down deep by this time, for jourteen days have elapsed since I first noticed the birds at work there and the hole had then been carried in and down so far that the bird was out of sight when at work. Both birds visit and eat of the suet in the lilac bush, at frequent intervals through the day. They are very silent and I rarely hear either of them call. They stopped drumming before I found the nest. White-bcllied Nuthatches have frequented the elms and orchard on the Barrett Farm through the past three breeding seasons but I have never succeeded in finding a nest. This spring I saw the pair together on several occasions early in April, but after the middle of the month the male usually appeared alone, spending most of the day in the big elms about the house. Indeed I did not once see the female between April 13 and May 5. On the latter day, both birds were feeding together in the elms. They were there again this morning when I noticed that the female showed much interest in the numerous holes in the old trees, entering several of them. The male twice approached and fed her just after she had emerged from a hole which I thought might contain the nest. About 2 P.M., however, I found the female hard at work removing an old Squirrel's nest from a hole in an oak in the grove behind the barn. She labored ceaselessly, bringing out the fine, shredded inner bark that the Red Squirrels use for their

N U T H A T C H E S BEGIN WORK ON N E S T .

193

Concord River nests, in tufts almost as large as her own body and scattering them with the help of the wind. Some of the shreds clung to the trunk and these she picked off, one by one, and tossed outward. After working a long time in this way, she began going over the outer bark of the tree near the hole with her bill, in the most curious manner. She swung her head from side to side rapidly and vigorously with long, wide sweeps, just touching the bark at each stroke. This was kept up at intervals for ten minutes or more. What she was doing it for I could not imagine. I could see nothing on the bark even with the aid of my glass. She worked with feverish energy. The male also seemed strangely excited, Coming dose about her and quivering his wings. He fed her repeatedly with small grubs which she instantly swallowed. He entered the hole several times but did nothing there, as far as I could see.

May 18, ipo6 T w o male Bobolinks spent the whole of yesterday and to-day in the meadow across the road from the farmhouse. They kept together the whole time, perching within a yard or two of each other in the tops of leafy elms and appletrees and one following the other when it took wing. Their singing was louder, more continuous and more rollicking than any Bobolink music I have heard for years. N o t once did they sing together but one would usually begin as soon as the other ceased. Thus they kept up an almost continual flood of music. BOBOLiNKs.

194

Concord River I feasted my ears on it for nearly half an hour. They kept it up nearly all day. I saw no female. The males acted as if they were dose friends, rather than rivals. Yesterday morning I saw three King-birds together near the little pond in our berry pasture. They were behaving very oddly. Alighting on some leafy horizontal branch, facing one another and only a few feet apart, they would crouch and quiver their wings and bow their heads low, at the same time uttering their shrill metallic cries incessantly. Finally one would fly to another tree and its two companions would immediately follow, when the bowing and scraping would be continued. This was kept up at intervals for ten or fifteen minutes. There were two birds in the same place late this afternoon, going through precisely the same performance. It looked like courtship but I cannot understand how two males could be courting the same female without fighting. Moreover, the third bird behaved exactly like the other two yesterday and the two to-day acted just alike. KiNG-BiRDS.

July /j, ipo6 As I was strolling through the pines behind Ball's Hill just before dinner, I heard a Chickadee making the low, feeble tee-e-e-e pecuhar to this season. The bird, an adult in shockingly worn and faded plumage, presently appeared and I stopped to watch it. It approached by short flights and hops until it reached a twig within less than two feet of my face. Here, CHICKADEES.

195

Concord River balancing itself on the slender, swaying spray, it remained for a minute or more, uttering its peevish cries incessantly. At length I advanced my hand slowly until my forefinger was ivithin an inch of the bird's head when it suddenly took alarm and dashed off through the woods. At evening as I was returning to Ball's Hill through Pine Park, I heard Blue Jays screaming near at hand. On going to the Spot I found that there were at least a dozen of them assembled among the branches of a dense young pine, where they were evidently intending to pass the night. Suddenly one of them was seized and borne off through the tree-tops by I know not what, but probably by a Hawk. The unfortunate bird gave one loud Jay scream and then a long succession of agonized cries growing gradually fainter and fainter. The marauder, whatever he was, was closely pursued by the whole flock of Jays whose combined clamor was almost deafening. BLUE J AYS.

The pursuit stopped in the wooded swamp behind the woodshed. After some five minutes, the Jays began returning, one at a time. Suddenly they all began screaming again and assembling in a large oak. In its top I soon discovered a Crow, hopping from branch to branch, hotly assailed by the Jays who dashed on him fearlessly and pecked him about the head. I had a good view of him and am sure he had nothing in either bill or claws. I do not think he had had anything to do with the capture of the Jay.

196

Concord River April 5,

ipoj

On reaching Concord this morning I found the winter snow and ice all gone save in sheltered places in the woods, the winter frost well out.of the ground, the woods settled and dry, the grass in fertile upland fields bright green. The farmers were ploughing and harrowing. I heard Wood Frogs and Leopard Frogs through the day and numbers of Pickering's Hylas at evening. Butterflies of at least three species were out in considerable numbers. The river is very low for the season and only the lower portions remain flooded. The water has not been over the river-path at Ball's Hill this spring. N o flowers are blooming as yet at the cabin but I saw a few crocuses, squills and pansies at the Farm. The alder catkins are shedding their golden pollen and the white maples are nearly if not quite in füll bloom. The region extending from Ball's Hill to the Farm was alive with birds to-day. I have rarely seen them more numerous at this season. . . . Just before sunset two small Bluebirds were Alling the still air with their tender warbling as I crossed the field to our berry pasture. At the same time a Phoebe performed its song flight. I saw another do it earlier in the day (about noon) at Ball's Hill. Red-wings were scattered all over the river meadows at evening, singing from their perches on the willows, maples and button bushes. I heard only one Robin in füll song — in the oaks near the Barrett Spring. Song Sparrows were common and generally distributed. I heard two Tree Sparrows singing APRIL BiRDS.

197

Concord River delightfully near West Bedford Station this morning. Altogether it was a great bird day and I had a feast of the tender bird music only to be heard at this early season. In a mixcd growth of oaks, maples and pines behind Ball's Hill I had two pairs of Chickadees under constant Observation for about half an hour this forenoon. They remained on the ground during the whole of this time, not once taking to the trees even when I approached them so closely that they were forced to flit on ahead of me. When not disturbed in this way, they moved about rather slowly, over limited areas, by a succession of bouncing hops. They seemed to be especially interested in the fallen, watersoaked oak and maple leaves; seizing these in their bills, they shook and dragged them about, sometimes tearing them into small fragments. Twice I saw a bird extract from a leaf and eat a small, elliptical, polished brown object that looked like a chrysalis of some kind. The paired birds kept dose together as did the pairs at times, while at others they rambled far apart. I do not remember to have ever before seen Chickadees feed so long and persistently on the ground. . . . CHICKADEES FEEDING ON T H E GROUND.

Fox Sparrows and Juncos fed all day long on the hemp and millet seed that we had thrown out for them in front of the cabin. Their numbers varied from time to time, for they kept Coming and going. Our highest count gave 15 Fox Sparrows and 10 Juncos. I have no doubt that thrice as many visited the seed bed in the course of the day. It was a pretty sight, that of so many attractively colored birds feeding quietly almost directly under our window. The big, rusty-rufous Fox 198

Concord River Sparrows were the more impressive of the two species, the slaty-blue Juncos the prettier and dainticr. Despite the abundance of visible seeds, the Fox Sparrows were continually scratching after their usual fashion — that is, by jumping alternately forward and backward among the dry leaves. This motion was so vigorous and effective that the leaves were often thrown up into the air to a height of six or eight inches. The Juncos scratched in the same way but much less often and also less vigorously than the Fox Sparrows. T h e y hopped about more restlessly and incessantly, however, carrying their heads low and their bodies flattened to the ground. Where the seed had been scattered profusely, both species would remain in one spot for minutes at a time, doing nothing but eat. When alarmed by the sight or sound of an approaching man or dog, the Fox Sparrows would stand erect and motionless for a moment before taking flight. The Juncos, under similar conditions, kept equally immovable but in more crouching attitudes. FOX SPARROWS GO E A R L Y TO BED; J U N C O S STILL EARLIER.

In pre-

vious years I have often known Fox Sparrows to leave their feeding grounds in the open fields and weed patches to seek their resting-places for the night among dense pines before sunset, but this evening a number of them lingered weil into the twilight about the seed bed in front of the cabin. All the Juncos deserted it half an hour or more before this, according to Gilbert, who was on the spot. A t 5.35 P.M. I came upon what appeared to be the entire flock on Pine Ridge where they had evidently settled themselves for the night, although the sun was still well above the horizon. T h e y were scattered about 199

Concord River Over an acre or more in dense, bushy pasture pines of large growth. As I strolled about among these trees, I started bird after bird to the number of a dozen or more. Each would flutter noisily and utter the tsup call once or twice just as it left its roost to seek a new one at a short distance. Until thus disturbed not one of them uttered a sound or gave me any other indication of its presence. Most of them flew from perches near the ends of the pine branches from six to ten feet above the ground. . . . A Golden-crested Kinglet was singing this forenoon in the woods behind Ball's Hill. . . . I saw the bird and its mate (or at least a female of the same species) among some alders, near the ground. What charmingly dainty and sylphlike little creatures! One can never cease from admiring them and wondering at their grace and animation of movement, especially when, as happened repeatedly to-day, they are seen poised on fluttering wings, like Humming-birds, inspecting the terminal leaves or buds of some slender spray.

KiNGLETs.

April 7, ipo"] Fox Sparrows were singing gloriously, dose to the cabin, at sunrise this morning and just before sunset I counted 22 of them, feeding in the seed bed under the window. They had eaten all the hemp seeds and were devoting themselves to the sunflower seeds which they ground into fragments in their bills before swallowing them. 200

Concord River About half-past six the last birds deserted the bed and flew off westward. Following them, I came on what seemed to be the entire flock, going (or rather gone) to roost among the dense young pines in Pine Park. They had all settled on their roosts, I think, when I reached this plantation but they were Galling incessantly to one another, making such a loud and seemingly excited clamor that I thought at first that they had discovered an Owl or a Cat among or under the trees. I could find nothing there, however, but a Partridge which could hardly have alarmed them. There was no singing and no lisping, the only note used by any of them being the tchuck one. This is closely similar to the tsup of the Junco but harder and more woodeny in tone. As I forced my way among the thickly growing trees, I disturbed half a dozen or more of these birds. Each, as it left its perch to fly to another tree, made a loud and protracted fluttering sound with its wings. Most of the birds Started from near the ends of the pine branches (where the foliage is densest, as a rule) about eight or ten feet above the ground. Shortly after leaving the Fox Sparrows, I reached the south end of Pine Ridge. Here I started a dozen or more Juncos which had gone to roost in the hemlocks that I planted ten or twelve years ago. Some of these birds flew out almost in my face from perches only two or three feet above the ground. Like the Fox Sparrows, they fluttered noisily and called tsup-tsup as they took wing but they did not seem to be seriously alarmed and after realighting not far off they invariably remained silent unless again approached. As they flitted across the openings among the trees in the gathering twilight, the white outer feath201

Concord River ers of their widely-spread tails showed most conspicuously and sometimes I could see nothing eise.

April p, ipoj The north-eastcr which began yesterday morning increased in violence through last night and to-day. It rained hard all this forenoon and snowed all the afternoon, Now, at nightfall, the snow lies six inches deep on the level, in open places, and loads the branches of the trees almost to breaking, in the woods. I had not thought to see so wintry a landscape again this spring as met my eye wherever I went late this afternoon. The beauty of the snow-burdened pines, hemlocks and birches equalled anything that I have ever Seen before, even at Bethel. This, however, was only in sheltered places; elsewhere the raging north-east wind tore the snow from even the pines before it could collect there in any quantity. The birches along the river-bank were bent over the water in arches of surpassing grace and the dehcate tracery of their snow-laden twigs was truly exquisite. The river appeared to be open only over its channel, for on the flooded meadows the water was everywhere covered with a dingy white slush which looked very like snow ice. In the more sheltered woods so much of the snow lodged in the tops and on the branches of the trees that the ground was nowhere very deeply covered and under the pines and hemlocks it was nearly or quite bare. This gave the birds a chance to get at the earth without much trouble and wherever it offered Fox Sparrows, Juncos and Robins were availing themselves of it. HEAVY NORTH-EAST SNOWSTORM.

202

Concord River EXTRAORDINARY NUMBERS OF FOX SPARROWS AND JUNCOS ABOUT

It was not necessary to go far afield to-day to see and hear very many spring birds. Despite the storm — or rather because of it — they came about the cabin in numbers which I have never known equalled here before at this season. The high, wooded ridge of Ball's Hill formed an almost perfect wind-break and we kept two small areas within a few yards of our windows clear of snow and supplied with quantities of hemp seed, sunflower seed and bread and cracker crumbs. The news must have been spread far and wide in Sparrow language that there was snug shelter and abundant food under the lea of Ball's Hill, for thither came Fox Sparrows and Juncos in ever increasing numbers until by noon the place literally swarmed with them. With them came a few Song and Tree Sparrows, a dozen or more Robins, a Hermit Thrush and an extremely forlorn-looking male Bluebird. We could do nothing, of course, to entertain the three species last named but all the seed-eating birds were given such a feast as they probably do not often enjoy even in the best of times. I am bound to say that they made the most of it and that they seemed glad to show such appreciation of our hospitality as lay in their power. Thus they ate steadily and unceasingly from morning to night, they sang equally without cessation from sunrise to evening twilight and as the day wore on they gained more and more confidence in us until they finally became almost as confiding as pet Canaries or domestic Pigeons. THE CABIN AT BALL'S HILL.

FOX SPARROWS; THEY SING AND FEED ALL DAY; THEIR UNUSUAL TAMENESS.

I make all these statements advisedly, for all are 203

Concord River literally true. At no time during the entire day (save occasionally for brief intervals, when Larry, the Irish terrier, disturbed them) were there less than a dozen or more birds busy with the seeds nor less than two or more in füll song. As to their tameness, the Fox Sparrows seemed to finally lose all fear of us. When I went out to replenish the food supply they would come about me almost underfoot and as I stood at the window one alighted on the sill and calmly regarded me with its bright beady eyes from a distance of less than two feet. Another hopped up on the sill of the open [window] and peeped into the cabin curiously. A third, not three yards from me, to whom I threw a piece of a Baldwin apple, met it almost before it had ceased rolling down the bank and at once seized and began eating it almost as unhesitatingly as a dog will take food from his master. The Juncos and Robins were scarcely less trustful. COOPER'S H A W K

INTERRUPTS THE SPARROWs' FEAST.

JuSt b e f o r e

noon the general sense of security which evidently prevailed among all the birds was suddenly and rudely dispelled. I had gone to the wood-shed for something and was on my way back when a male Cooper's Hawk, Coming from I know not where, dropped into the very middle of a group of Fox Sparrows feeding in the path in front of my cabin. I saw him clutch at one of them with widely opened talons (of his right foot) but the Sparrow dodged him and escaped. He then alighted on a post by the landing, but, seeing me, remained there only a few seconds before gliding off, ghostlike, through the densely falling snow-flakes out over the river. Although most of the Sparrows and Juncos had taken flight 204

Concord River with loud cries and sought refuge in the trees, a moment after the Hawk Struck at their companion, a number of them remained feeding only a short distance off, evidently having failed to take alarm. Thus, had I not come on tiie scene in the nick of time, the Hawk would probably have had a chance for another stoop, with good hope of success. Even the birds which had flown up into the trees did not seem greatly frightened, although they- did not venture to return to the ground for several minutes after the Hawk had gone. . . . As I have Said, the Fox Sparrows sang as well as fed all day long, with never an interval of silence much exceeding a minute. Yet I did not often hear more than two and never more than three at any one time. It is difficult to account for this fact, especially when the wide fluctuations in the number of birds within hearing are borne in mind. The songs of different individuals varied in form, in tone and in quality or merit. The best singers were those which used the notes most characteristic of their species. These birds were by far the most numerous. Among the aberrant singers I heard one which might easily have been mistaken for a Grass Finch, another who sang very much like a Purple Finch and a third whose final notes were almost exactly like those of the Towhee's song. Many birds sang on the ground, merely pausing for a moment between two bites at the seeds to throw up their heads and pour out their rieh notes. . . . SONGS OF FOX s p A R R o w s .

When numbers of birds were feeding together, one or more of them was almost constantly uttering a series of chattering, clicking and snickering sounds so faint as to be audible only a 205

Concord River rod or two away. These reminded me of the sounds made by the Red Squirrel when heard at a distance. A bird suddenly attacked by another when feeding and I think pecked or "tweaked" a little, uttered a sort of chirrup,- soft and low. This I do not remember ever hearing before. Another sound produced by the Fox Sparrows when feeding, but less often heard than the snickering, was a low, vibrating chir rrrr, rather harsh in quality. The Fox Sparrows at the seed beds were "scrapping" almost incessantly, especially when collected there in large numbers. Their encounters, although often spirited, were invariably brief and seldom or never really vindictive. Apparently they expressed only momentary and for the most part trivial fits of jealousy or ill-temper. At first I thought that they were caused by a selfish determination to monopolize spots where food was particularly abundant but I soon found that even the most quarrelsome birds molested only certain individuals of their own kind and that it was very unusual (I saw it happen but twice during the day) for any of them to attack the much smaller and feebler Juncos which, had they chosen, they could easily have excluded from the feast. My final conclusion was that most of their combats were due either to sexual jealousy or to a mixture of playfulness and bravado. In other words, they were simply bullying one another and "showing off," perhaps for the benefit of their mates. I noted some evidence, however, which indicated that certain birds were unpopulär with their fellows if not very generally disliked by them. Such individuals, at least, were obviously FOX SPARROWS FIGHTING.

206

Concord River and repeatedly ill-treated hy more than one of their companions and one unfortunate was invariably set upon by three or four of them at once, whenever it attempted to approach the seed bed. Most of the fights that I watched were simple duels, however, quickly ended and not again resumed so far as I could discover. Indeed, it was very common for two birds to be feeding quietly side by side immediately after they had settled their Uttle dispute. They fought in three sUghtly different ways: ( I ) by makirig a quick level dash at one another either on foot or on wing and only just above the surface of the ground; (2) by Standing motionless for an instant, beak to beak, and then springing up into the air six to eight inches, apparently striking with bills and feet (but not at all forcibly) like game-cocks, just as they came together; (3) by fluttering straight upward to a height of five or even eight or ten feet, facing one another all the while, their bills almost touching, but not so far as I could see either thrusting or striking with bill or feet. Whenever, at the dose of any one of these encounters, one of the birds turned tail and fled, he was never pursued more than a yard or two and often, as I have just said, he would at once resume feeding within a few inches of his late antagonist. H o w T H E FOX SPARROW CARRiES iTS T A I L .

F o x Sparrows often

fan out their handsome tails for an instant when engaged in fighting, but at most other times the tail is kept tightly closed. It is sometimes depressed so that the tip just touches or trails Over the ground but as a rule it is carried at an angle a little above the line of the back and occasionally much higher than 207

Concord River this, with the tips of the wings well below its base. T h e position at which it is held is frequently changed and it is often flirted prettily up and down or sideways as the bird hops about Over

the ground. O n the whole, however, the Fox Sparrow

gesticulates with its tail rather less than do most other birds. FOX SPARROW DRAWS OUT AND EATS AN EARTH-WORM.

It

is

probable that Fox Sparrows Scratch not alone for concealed seeds but also for animal food, as the following Observation will show. A s I was watching a bird digging a little pit into the soft, Sandy soil in front of my cabin this afternoon, I saw it pause for an instant and, after bending its neck forward and down, pull out from the excavation a red earth-worm about three inches in length. This it held in its bill for an instant as if not quite knowing what to do with it. It then dropped the worm, which was immediately picked up b y another Fox Sparrow who made short work of the wiggling creature, first separating it into three pieces, b y biting and shaking it with its bill, and then eating these fragments without hesitation and indeed with very evident relish.

May 8, i^oi A s twilight was gathering this evening I heard a W o o d c o c k peeping in the direction of the Berry Pasture. Going there at once I found he was beyond my boundary wall in Mr. Howe's pasture. H e sang a dozen times or more at short intervals while I was there. I watched him through the whole of one flight and 208

Black D u c k at Evening

Concord River most of another. On both occasions as he was making the series of short downward plunges at the height of his song, I saw him tilt first on one side, then on the other, with first one wing and then the other pointing straight upward, while its fellow pointed directly earthward. In other words, he turned first one side Up and then the other. This, I think, happened every time he swooped, but I could not make sure that such was the case. What I did see beyond the possibiUty of mistake was that he tilted them two or three times during each of the two flights when I had him in view. If I am not greatly mistaken, no one has ever noticed this tilting before or at least reported doing so. I, certainly, saw it to-night for the first time. It was very marked and interesting. I think the bird happened to be at just the right angle with my line of vision. During his first flight he made rather short and regulär swoops; during the second, his movements were so swift and erratic that my eyes were taxed to follow him. His song was hardly up to the Standard for his voice lacked strength and fulness, although it was as sweet as usual.

July 12, EXPERiENCE

WITH A

SKUNK.

ipoj

As Mr. Forbush and I were Walk-

ing through the apple-orchard at the Farm this afternoon, we Started a Skunk in the uncut grass. It was so tall that I could see only his back and the tip of his tail as he galloped off. H e moved by a succession of long, high bounds and so swiftly that although I ran at my best speed I had not gained on him per209

Concord River ceptibly when he reached the woods. The distance which he traversed in the open was about sixty yards, for the first half of the way over a gently downward incline, for the latter half down a rather steep hillside. All the while he was about twenty yards in advance of me and running almost as fast as a Rabbit runs when startled but not closely pursued. This experience happened at exactly half-past six o'clock with the sun showing from a cloudless sky. Taken in connection with the Observation I made here last autumn, from my Chamber window early one morning, it convinces me that Skunks are at times really wary animals and that they can and do run much faster than is ordinarily supposed. These facts account, in a measure, I believe, for the extreme infrequency with which they are seen in places (such as this Farm) where the signs they leave, when digging for crickets and for turtles' eggs, show that they must be very numerous. They have been most persistent and successful in their quest for turtles' eggs near Ball's Hill this season (chiefly in June) as the heaps of empty shells scattered thickly over the sandy fields fully attest. I did not know before that Skunks ever come out to feed in the bright sunshine, as was the case with the animal above described.

July IS, ipo-] ANOTHER SKUNK.

As I was Walking along the river path at

Ball's Hill about 9.30 P.M., I started a good-sized animal from a Space of soft sand at our landing within thirty yards of the cabin. Although the sky was clear and füll of stars, it was so 210

Concord River intensely dark under the shade of the trees that I could see nothing, but from the sound of the creature's footsteps as [it] moved first through some rank weeds within two yards of me and then up the steep leaf and twig-strewn hillside, I knew that it was trotting slowly and evenly with the steady, mincing gait so characteristic of the Skunk. When it reached the foot-path that leads to the chestnut cabin, all sounds ceased and I concluded that it had taken advantage of this convenient roadway to move still further off quickly and in silence. I got a lighted lantern in the cabin and followed the path for some distance along the hillside, but could neither see nor hear anything more of the nocturnal visitor. The next morning I found the sandy ground by the landing torn up everywhere by fresh diggings, evidently those of a Skunk. The persistent beast had not only raided several nests of the Musk Tortoise, scattering the eggshells about, but had also rooted up a number of small plants that I had set out in the sand a few days before. That same morning I visited some more plants that I had put into the ground near Pine Park shed, and every one of them had been recently unearthed by a Skunk. Apparently this creature noses out and investigates every place where the earth has been loosened or disturbed.

August 20, 1^0-] When I awoke this morning, the sky near the horizon line in the East was glowing with the light of approaching dawn but the woods still slumbered in almost total

NIGHT CALL OF VEERY.

211

Concord River darkness. T w o birds were calling to one another among the oaks on the hillside just above the cabin, both uttering a note familiar to me since boyhood, but concerning the authorship of which I have been hitherto in doubt. It is a short, staccato cry, commonly monosyllabic but not infrequently divided into two syllables, given with either a rising or a falling inflection, usually clear and resonant but sometimes guttural and occasionally even harsh or strident. Although thus variable in form and tone, it possesses almost always a wild, almost weird quality which makes it a peculiarly interesting and indeed attractive sound. It is so very loud and penetrating as to carry fully a mile when the air is still and it is positively startling in its abrupt intensity when Coming from near at hand. I have heard it only by night and oftenest at Lake Umbagog, late in August or early in September when heavy flights of Warbiers were passing. Often when lying wakeful in my tent at Pine Point have I listened to it for hours in succession, studying its alternating variations of inflection and Intonation and speculating fruitlessly as to the identity of its author. On these occasions it came invariably from birds which quite evidently were on wing at no great height above the tree-tops and moving swiftly southward.

September 27, i^o"] As I was at work setting out plants on the shores of the little artificial pond in our berry pasture this morning, I heard the rustling sound of wings very near me. The next instant, a solitary Sandpiper alighted about 20 yards distant. The bird ap212

Concord River peared to have just come from a distance and was no doubt a migrant fresh from the North. The first thing it did was to satisfy its thirst by wading into the water and drinking copiously, just as a Warbier, Thrush or Sparrow would have done, that is to say by immersing the partly open bill and then pointing it upward to let the water run down its throat, at the same time working the mandibles. In this way it secured a number of swallows. It then rambled almost entirely around the pond, trying for food in a number of places but apparently faiUng to secure any. The ground was, for the most part, too hard for it to probe, although it attempted to do so. At length (about ten minutes after its first appearance) I looked up and found that it had departed in silence. Later in the day, Fat Flannery heard a Kingfisher ratthng and saw it ahght in a small elm over the pond. There are a few minnows there. How quickly the Kingfisher discovers their presence in such remote places! This pool was dry only a year er two ago. I have just enlarged it considerably. N o doubt Ducks will come to it in course of time. About 3 P.M. I saw a solitary Chimney Swift high in air, hurrying southward over the orchard. This is a late date. When Mr. Forbush arrived at the farm-house this morning, he told of having just seen four Deer together in Birch Field. Early in the afternoon he saw a single one at the edge of the swamp just below the orchard. One animal was small, the others of füll size; all were does. About 5 P.M. I Started for Birch Field, hoping to get a sight DEER I N OUR WOODS; FORBUSH SEES FOUR, I THREE.

213

Concord River at some of these Does. Pat Flannery overtook me at the foot of the hill and just as we entered the woods my Irish terrier, Larry, joined us. W e had nearly reached the big pine when a Deer started on our right and ran across the opening to the left. It stopped about thirty yards away when it was joined by another of about the same size and a moment later by a third, considerably smaller. I took both the larger animals to be fully mature does. One of them was very pale-colored (a sort of faded yellowish) and its coat looked thin and ragged as if it were moulting. The other was bright reddish brown with the entire ehest black. This I can swear to, as the animal was facing me and in a good light. The other two standing near it and also facing me had the ehest colored Uke the body. Although these Deer could see us dimly and had our ivind, they stood staring at us for fully five minutes, within thirty yards. The pale, mangy-looking doe who appeared to be the leader of the trio stamped with her right foot many times as if angry and once she advanced a few paces. All the while we talked in low tones and Larry protested in high ones. At length I let him go and he sprang forward at top speed. Then the Deer threw up their "flags" and bounded off, but at no great speed. Evidently the little dog did not alarm them greatly. He came back within less than five minutes. Pratt shot a large buck in his nursery about a week ago.

April 28, ipo8

The Chickadees worked at excavating for their nest in the apple tree at the rear of the

CHiCKADEES EXCAVATiNG HOLE.

214

Concord River house all day and even more ceaselessly and energetically in the afternoon than in the forenoon. Thus far they have done nothing but loosen and remove the decayed wood. I examined the hole this evening and found it had been carried down about six inches. A t the bottom it tapered to a point. The birds jump into it and out of it with surprising quickness and precision Hke Jack-in-the-box, never pausing for an instant at the entrance, at least when going in. SHARP-SHIN H A W K HUNTING.

As I was Standing near our poul-

try yard about lo A.M., a female Sharp-shinned Hawk scaled low Over it, coming from Lawrence's field. She kept straight on, following our cart path and passing the old barn within a few yards and below the level of the eaves. N o t once while within my view did she move her wings. There was something very impressive about her flight — a swift, even, noiseless glide, suggesting great momentum yet absolutely effortless. This is the characteristic method of hunting of the Sharp-shin, and to a less degree of Cooper's Hawk, also. It must be a deadly method, for the victim can have Uttle or no notice of the approach of the H a w k until it is too late.

March RED-SHOULDERED H A W K S BACK A T HOLDEN HILL.

The

i^op Red-

shouldered Hawks are back in their old haunts at Holden's Hill. As I approached the nest in the tall chestnut, in which they reared a brood of young last year and one in 1907, the 215

Concord River male flew from a branch within a few yards of the nest. He was joined by the female, who came from the trees beyond, when both birds soared about over the woods, keeping at a distance but screaming almost incessantly. I know of no wilder sound than that of their loud, ringing voices. There were no chalkings or pellets under the nest. It looked rather more trim and shapely than when I left here last autumn but I am not sure that it has been really changed in this way. Spent afternoon in Birch Field. Where the cart path leaves it to enter the woods lying between it and the Farm, I found about 4 P.M. a great quantity of Partridge feathers, apparently nearly if not quite all that had belonged to a fine old gray-tailed, black-rufFed cock, perhaps the one that has drummed for so many years on the wall in Barrett Run. R U F F E D GROUSE K I L L E D AND E A T E N B Y LARGE H A W K .

He had evidently been seized among some dense young pines bordering the east side of the path. Here I found his ruffs and twenty rectrices besides many of the body feathers. Another large pile of feathers, chiefly from his sides and breast, lay in the middle of the path and among these were his entrails which seemed to be entire, although somewhat bruised and matted together. The upper part of his skull and a small fragment of bone lay on the western edge of the path with his primaries, secondaries and various other feathers. Here, apparently, the bird of prey which quite evidently had been the murderer had gorged himself with the flesh of his victim. It may have been either during or just after his repast that he voided his chalky white excrement. I found no less than six splashes of it on the dry 216

Concord River leaves, each of them almost continuous for a foot or more and two inches broad in places. This indicated a Hawk or Owl of the largest size as did also the fact that the skull had been cut through in several places (across the frontal bone and both orbital bones) as cleanly as if with some powerful steel implement. Nothing short of a Goshawk or a Great Horned Owl could well have done such work. Partridges never roost (except under snow) in places such as that where this bird had been seized and Owls catch them, as far as I have observed, only when they are roosting in trees. Hence I am inclined, after thinking the matter over carefully, as I was at first blush, to attribute the deed to a Goshawk. It must have been committed within twenty-four hours for the feathers had not been blown about as they would have been by the raging wind that blew most of yesterday nor had the fragments of flesh adhering to the skull become too dry to yield a few drops of blood when I squeezed them tightly. The Hawk's excrement was almost but not quite dry. I judged that it had been exposed to the sun and wind not over six or seven hours. All this evidence inclines me to believe that the Partridge was killed about nine or ten o'clock this forenoon. I neglected to say that every one of the feathers I examined had been picked out and not bitten o f f . I found no soft flesh or bony fragments besides those already mentioned. Yesterday forenoon I saw a very large Hawk that looked like a Goshawk. I noticed especially its long tail as it flew over the field in front of our house. No Goshawks have been reported to me this past winter, however. 217

Concord River March 21, RABBIT RUNNiNG AT UNUSUAL SPEED.

A Cotton-tail Rabbit,

Started by Larry this forenoon, took a nearly straight course across Birch Field, ninning at very unusual speed and alternately appearing and disappearing among the scattered Clusters of trees. Edward W . Emerson, who was with me, said that when it crossed an opening it looked to him like a dark line several yards in length and that his eye utterly failed to record it as the small, swiftly moving object which his brain assured him it must be. This was exactly the impression it made on me. It passed us at a distance of about 100 yards.

March 22, ANOTHER WOODLAND TRAGEDY.

Passing through the wood path

just below the peach orchard this afternoon, I found the tail of a large Gray Squirrel. It could not have been there yesterday noon when the Emersons and I came home that way for it was in the very middle of the path, in an open place, and too conspicuous to be overlooked. Moreover, it was perfectly flexible and the thick end was still wet with fresh blood. Apparently it had been cut off or rather bitten off, dose to the Squirrel's body, but by what? And what had become of the body of the Squirrel? I suspect a Fox had something to do with the matter but this is pure assumption, unsupported by any evidence, for I found no tracks or other signs. The ground was too hard frozen to register them. Thus the affair is quite mysterious and likely to remain so, I fear. 218

Concord River March

ipop

Henry P. Richardson brought me the dried corpse of a House Sparrow impaled on a twig of an apple tree fully one-quarter of an inch in thickness which is driven down behind the Steinum, between the forks of the wishbone. He found it last winter in an alder swamp near Strawberry Hill, Concord. Without doubt it must have been killed and transfixed by a Slirike. I have never before known a Shrike to make use of so stout a skewer, however. SPARROW i M P A L E D B Y SHRiKE.

March

ipop

While in the orchard this afternoon I saw a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks pass overhead at an immense height (at least 1000 feet). They were moving north-west in a perfectly straight course, on a level plane, one following in the wake of the other at a distance of about 100 yards, the male leading the way. Their wings were set and strongly bowed as long as I had the birds in sight, yet they glided on without effort and seemingly without inclining downward in the least, for a distance of fully a mile, progressing very slowly, however. I have often seen large Hawks do this very thing before and to my mind it is the most majestic and impressive of their many different forms of flight. The wings look broader than at other times and there is something unusual and peculiar in the way they are held. PAIR OF BUTEO L I N E A T U S GLIDING A T GREAT HEIGHT.

219

Concord River About ten minutes after the Red-shouldered Hawks passed over me, another Hawk of still greater size, apparently, followed them Aying at about the same height in nearly the same direction and in a precisely similar manner. It was shaped Uke a Cooper's Hawk and when I first noticed it at a distance, advancing from the eastward, I took it for a female of that species; but when it came overhead I saw that it was much too large for a Cooper's. Its wings looked short and broad, its body bulky, its tail very long. The general coloring of the under parts was apparently grayish, I think the bird must have been a female Goshawk. I did not once see it beat its wings but the course it followed was not quite straight and just as it was passing out of sight it made a sudden twist to the right, followed by one to the left. There was little or no wind at the time. GOSHAWK.

March 28, I was returning from Mr. Howe's shortly after sunset this evening and had reached the Ritchie house when I looked intently ahead at the group of big-leafed poplars in the corner of our berry pasture just Over the wall from the roadside, hoping vaguely that I might see a Partridge there. Sure enough, there was one, easily to be mistaken at that distance for the Oriole or Caterpillar nest that might have been but was not there. I passed her within fifteen yards and kept on up the road to a distance of sixty yards before stopping. All this while and for five minutes HEN PARTRIDGE "BUDDING" IN POPLAR.

220

Concord River longer she remained rigid and motionless, her body rather erect, her neck stretched up and looking scarce thicker than one's finger, her crest erect with its feathers widely parted. A t length she abandoned her statuesque pose and, hopping up to a branch just above where she had been sitting, began budding. Düring the next ten minutes she did not once shift her perch but the inclination of her body changed from time to time, varying from horizontal or crouching to nearly erect, and her head was rarely still for more than an instant. Indeed, she kept it in rapid and almost constant motion as she darted it out on every side and sometimes upward, picking oif and swallowing the poplar buds much as a hungry domestic fowl eats com. A t least, this is what I knew she must be doing although I could not see the buds at that distance, of course. M y view of the bird (a small female) was obscured only (and but slightly) by the long pendant catkins with which the tree was thickly hung but as I had her Silhouette against the bright light in the west I could trace her outlines and her movements accurately enough. It was growing dark (at 6.30) when she left her perch (a slender branch 20 feet above the ground near the top of the tree) and whizzed (no sound of wings, however) across the road in the red pine grove where I heard her strike either a branch or the ground with a loud swot. (This record should be compared with that made here in March several years ago of 8 or 9 Partridges budding in apple trees.)

221

Concord River May 4, ipop SHARP-SHIN H A W K CHASES A CHIPPY B U T FAILS TO CATCH IT.

As

I was at work with three of my men in the flower garden at the rear of our farm-house this forenoon, a Chipping Sparrow appeared, closely pursued by a female Sharp-shinned Hawk. As the Chippy was passing over the top of a large apple tree it suddenly closed its wings and dropped down through the Upper tier of branches. The Hawk attempted to follow but was stopped by the interlacing twigs. Mounting upward again, it circled about the tree and then dashed in from one side, driving the Chippy out and into the next tree. As it again circled, it passed over me within 20 feet, when I flung my cap at it and shouted. It kept on without appearing to notice me but, just before entering the tree-top, turned back and soaring upward in circles to a great height, drifted off to the westward. I doubt if it would have got the Chippy had I not interfered. I saw it drop its legs twice, apparently from under the tail, although I am not sure about this.

May ip, ipop Early this morning before the east wind started, the river was perfectly calm and thinly veiled in mist, the sky filled with fleecy clouds. The sun shone dimly at intervals through both cloud and mist. These conditions lasted up to about 8.30. A t 7.30 I heard a Snipe drumming in the direction of Great Meadow. He kept it up without cessation for more than half an hour, usually 222 WILSON'S SNIPE DRUMS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.

Concord River drumming about every eight seconds, although the intervals of silence were sometimes double that length. The humming sound ordinarily lasted about three er four seconds at each repetition. Although I paddled up river for some distance and thereby got rather near where the bird was performing, I could not see him, partly because of the misty atmosphere and partly because there were so many Swallows Aying on the meadow. About 5 P.M. I heard the Snipe drumming again. At this time the air was perfectly clear, the sky filied with fleecy clouds through which the sun shone at intervals. I started up river in a canoe at once. On reaching Beaver Dam Lagoon I ran the canoe into the grass, for the Snipe seemed to be not far off. For many minutes I looked for him in vain, although twice he came nearly over me. The bright light in the sky dazzled my eyes and the Swallows and Swifts bothered me. Moreover I was looking, as I proved, too low down; for when at length I caught sight of the Snipe he was Aying at a great height, fully five hundred feet, I thought, above the meadow and only just beneath the lower strata of clouds. For at least fifteen minutes I kept my glass steadily on him. Düring this time he Aew, for the most part, in great circles perhaps three hundred yards in diameter and over the broadest part of the meadow; but towards the dose of his Aight he repeatedly doubled back after describing not more than half or even one third of a füll circle. The füll circles were made from left to right, that is from east to south to west to north to east again and so on, over and over the same course. When he turned back he retraced his course and then turned again, swinging back and forth from east to south and west and back 223

Concord River to south and east, etc. The drumming sound came to my ears every eight or ten seconds and invariably just as the bird dipped downward; it then swept up again to his former level. Düring some of this downward curve, he descended rather steeply for a distance of 40 or 50 feet, during others the drop was not more than 15 or 20 feet and at a very gentle decline. Sometimes the undulations followed one another so closely and regularly that the bird's course was not unlike that of a galloping Goldfinch or Woodpecker but as a rule he would fly for several rods on a level plane between one dip and another. While moving thus, he sometimes glided on set wings for a few rods. At all other times, whether flying level or swinging first downward and then upward, he moved his wings incessantly. I could detect no diiference in their motion when the winnowing sound was produced from that when the bird was moving on a level plane and making no sound that reached my ears. When he ceased his song flight, he merely pitched down into the meadow with closed or half-closed wings and silently, as Snipe are accustomed to do at all seasons when descending to their feeding grounds from high in air. It is very late in the spring, of course, for Snipe to be lingering here and the persistence and fervor of this particular bird in respect to drumming lead me to suspect that he may have a mate and a nest somewhere in the meadows which he is haunting.

May 26, ipo^ M A L E YELLOW-THROAT siNGiNG ON NEST.

While at the Farm

this forenoon, we heard a Yellow-throated Vireo singing loudly 224

Concord River and steadily in the elm just behind the wood-shed. A moment later I discovered him on the nest which was hung in the fork of a short branch that left the trunk some 15 or 20 feet above the ground. He sang for several minutes without moving anything save his head, which was raised high and rolled about from side to side after the manner of his kind. The female meanwhile was quietly feeding among the branches only a few yards off.

April 21, PARTRiDGE "BÜDDING."

i^io

As I was taking a walk through Pine

Park just after sunset, I heard something making a loud continuous rustling among the dry leaves on the back of Ball's Hill. Presently a very small hen Partridge appeared, Walking swiftly down the hillside. On Coming under a wild-apple tree that stands at the edge of the woods, she flew straight up into it without making the slightest sound of wings, and began budding. Standing within thirty yards of the tree, I watched her closely through my glass. She worked very busily for about 15 or 20 minutes, pecking at the buds almost as fast as a hen picks up com and making, as nearly as I could average it, about two pecks every three seconds. T h e y were made in every direction, straight up and down as well as to all sides. Every minute or two the bird changed her perch, Walking, sometimes, a yard or two among the smaller twigs just as if she had been on the ground. When reaching for buds below her foothold, she would bend far forward and downward with outstretched neck, but I did not see the tail cocked up above the line of the back, 225

Concord River as happened with the birds observed at the Farm in March eight or ten years ago. The Partridge seen to-night called every few minutes krut, krut, kur-r-r, krur-r-r, in rather peevish tones. After finishing her supper, she flew down to the ground with a heavy fluttering sound and I saw no more of her. It was then nearly dusk (7.05 P . M . ) . I do not think the bird caught sight of me (I was behind a tree) or even suspected my presence. Düring the whole time she kept steadily at work, never pausing to look about her, as far as I could see.

May 50,

ipio

A t Ball's Hill a Water Thrush was singing near the cabin at 9 A.M. and a Night-hawk peeping somewhere in the distance about 3 P.M. These were the only north-bound migrants noted to-day. On May 8 I recorded in this journal the finding of a Partridge's nest within a few yards of a large wood-pile on the edge of the opening behind Ball's Hill. A few days later Harry O. Adams, our intelligent farmhand, reported finding what we both supposed was the same nest, since he said it was very near the wood-pile. His count of the eggs, however, was 1 1 , whereas I had made the number 12. Since then I have visited the nest a number of times, always finding the bird sitting, until to-day. He has not been there again until to-day.

A COLONY OF BREEDING PARTRIDGES.

At 4.30 this afternoon, I stumbled on a hen Partridge with 226

RufFed Grouse

Concord River a brood of young on the crest of the Hill behind the cabins and not Over 80 yards from the wood-pile. Meeting Harry a few minutes later, I said, "I think our Partridge has hatched her eggs," telling him what I had just seen. He suggested a visit to the nest to make sure. As we approached the wood-pile, he turned in to the right of it, I to the left. Instantly a dispute arose as to just where the nest was, each of us maintaining he was headed straight for it: I knew its exact position to a foot, and Harry thought he did, I had difficulty to get him to look in my place and when he saw the eggs (there were 1 1 , not 12, and they looked very dark, as if about to hatch) his face expressed utter astonishment and likewise, no doubt, triumph. After looking keenly about him for a moment, he said with quiet assurance, "Mr. Brewster, that is not my nest. Let me now show you mine." He then led me straight past my nest to a distance of not over 30 or 35 yards where, by the side of a disused foot-path on the edge of the swamp among thick bushes, under a clump of ferns, ivas another nest, also with 11 eggs. These looked bright and fresh but it is now over two weeks since he found them. The bird was not seen at this time (i.e. when he showed them to me) nor was my bird seen. But a half hour later I found my bird on the nest (as she was yesterday afternoon). I did not go to Harry's nest a second time to-day, as the light was poor there and I feared I could not see her without disturbing her, as the spot is very densely shaded.* * H a r r y visited the nest again after I started for the Farm. A s not there, he examined the eggs closely and found that every one no doubt several days ago. This accounts for the brood of young on dim light accounts for our thinking the eggs unhatched. — AUTHOR'S

the bird was had hatched, the hill. T h e NOTE.

227

Concord River In all my life I have never before found nor heard of two nests of the Partridge anything like so near together. Then, too, there was the hen with the brood of young. Although apparently several days old, they must have been hatched in the immediate neighborhood of Ball's Hill (Harry saw a brood on the 2 6th May in Pine Park about 200 yards from where I met with those to-day). To add to the mystery, it is several years since I have heard a cock Partridge drum anywhere in the Ball's Hill region (on April 2, 1910, Gilbert heard one on the south side of the hill, not far from the cabins, but he heard it only a few times, all the same morning). I have repeatedly seen an old cock there, however. He must be an odd bird if he can manage to attach to himself and to keep three wives, without ever giving them a Serenade. And if there be more than one cock, it is doubly stränge that I have heard no drumming, especially as I have been living at the hill a large part of the past spring. Taking it all together, I am sorely puzzled to understand the matter at all. It certainly looks as if the two hens which still have eggs must belong to a Single cock; however, the cock may be with the hen which has young.

June 18, ipio Whenever I paSS very near the apple-tree in which the Crested Flycatchers are nesting, one of the birds is sure to fly out of the hollow branch which I put up two years ago and in which I found a nest at 228 BEHAVIOR OF NESTING CRESTED F L Y C A T C H E R .

Concord River the dose of last summer after the Flycatchers had gone. To-day I approached the tree very carefully, Walking over newly ploughed land where my footsteps made no sound. Y e t the Flycatcher must have heard me Coming, for before I got under the branch (which hangs about 15 feet above the earth) she appeared at the mouth of the hole. For a few seconds she remained there motionless and then flew to another tree, in perfect silence. This behavior is quite characteristic of her and her mate. T h e y flit about uneasily when my men are working under or near the tree which shelters the nest but I never hear them utter any sound there, although they are still noisy enough at times (less often than a week or two ago, however) in other parts of the orchard or in neighboring woods.

September GENEEIAL AND SUSTAINED SINGING OF EARLY MORNiNG.

1^10

M A N Y SONG SPARROWS IN

A s I was on my way from the landing across

the river to the West Bedford Station about 8 o'clock this morning, I heard at least a dozen Song Sparrows singing at short, regulär intervals. A l l seemed to be old birds, yet their voices were subdued and pitched low, although their notes were clear and sweet. One followed another so closely that there was almost a continuous volume of melodious sound, seeming to come from every direction, far and near, over the green smiling fields that border the railway line. It was much like the singing we hear in late March and early April when the Song Sparrows first arrive in force, having the same tender, delicate quality with a touch of 229

Concord River plaintiveness and very unlike the füll, strong singing of late spring and early summer. I do not remember ever Hearing anything like it before in autumn. A Phoebe was in füll song near the cabin and a Pheasant crowing not far off, earlier in the morning.

March i^,

ipii

The Red-shouldered Hawks at Holden's Hill were hanging about the old nest in the big chestnut. The male was perched for several minutes in a dead pine on the hillside above the chestnuts. The female alighted within a few yards of him for a few moments but kept for the most part in. the air, soaring in wide circles, rather high, screaming almost incessantly. He answered her every now and then, from his perch, opening his mouth very widely at each note. I could not detect any difference between his cries and hers. The two made the whole country ring with their wild, thrilling music for to my ears the voice of this Hawk is one of the most musical sounds of our New England woods. Both birds were in füll adult plumage with red breasts and pure white tail bands. They did not seem to be much disturbed by my presence. PAiR OF RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS.

The Nuthatches were at the suet for half-an-hour or more this morning. The male again kept the female from alighting on it and again gave to her many of the pieces he chiseled out of it with his sharp bill. But on

WHiTE-BELLiED NUTHATCHES.

230

Concord River this occasion she ate every one of them the moment she received them from him. ^^e did not seem to object to this, although whenever she was not near at band he would fly off with the pieces and cache them in crevices or under bark, as he did on the morning of the i yth. The female is a very handsome one. Indeed, her crown and nape are so nearly or largely black that we have some difficulty in distinguishing her from the male, especially when the light is not good.

March 20,

i^ii

About three inches of wet, heavy snow feil last night, covering the ground very evenly and loading every twig of tree and shrub so thick [that] the woods and thickets presented a beautiful appearance this morning. Bluebirds were singing and Robins calling near the house as I was dressing. T w o or three Chickadees and the pair of Nuthatches visited the suet to get their breakfast while we were eating ours. Not long after this, a stränge and grewsome tragedy was enacted in the lilacs within fifteen feet of the windows. James, Gilbert and I witnessed all but its opening act which, unfortunately, escaped our notice. SNOWSTORM.

We Were in the dining-room, Consulting about the day's work, when we heard the tcbick note of the Downy Woodpecker repeated almost incessantly and very rapidly just outside. For a moment or more we paid no attention to it. But something unusual in

A M A L E D O W N Y Vi^OODPECKER K I L L S A F E M A L E .

231

Concord River its quality and its insistence soon led me to look out and this was what I saw: On the snow, among the outermost stems of the lilacs on one side of the dense thicket that they form was a female Downy with extended and quivering wings. About her hopped or rather danced a handsome male, showing the red on his occiput very conspicuously. He kept striking at her head with his bill and occasionally he held on for a few seconds, when the two birds fluttered about together and perhaps rolled over once or twice, closely united. At first I thought it an amatory encounter and I am still almost certain that the male attempted to secure sexual contact with the female once or twice. But if so it could not have been his primary or at least sole object. For he continued to peck her head even when she was lying almost motionless on the snow. For a time she seemed to be trying to escape and for fully two minutes her cries were piteous and incessant. At length he left her and flew up into an elm where he clung for a moment or two, making what seemed to me a very unusual display of the red on his occiput. Then of a sudden he swooped down on the female, who had meanwhile been cowering in the middle of a düster of lilac stems, on the snow. Dragging her forth from this slight shelter into an open space, he attacked her again, this time with obvious fury, fairly raining a shower of blows on the back of her head. She seemed too weak to make any further attempt to escape and her cries, although continued, were so faint that we could only just hear them. I now realized for the first time that he was inspired by the lust of killing and not by sexual ardor. It was very hard to refrain from rushing out and driving him away but I restrained the impulse, not being 232

Concord River Willing to Interrupt a tragedy of such extraordinary, if repulsive, interest. It would have made no difference anyway, for this final onslaught lasted only a very few seconds. Düring its continuance the male Downy seemed literally beside himself with rage. N o Butcher Bird that I have ever watched has shown, while dealing with a Mouse or Sparrow, more murderous energy. A f t e r finishing the foul deed he left the female lying perfectly motionless and flew up again into the elm. W e now went out and picked up the female. She was still living but unable to move. The [back] of her head was soaked in blood and her bare skull showed in places. She died a little later. I skinned her and preserved her skull which I have attached to the skin. It is punctured in loor 12 places. The bird was in normal condition physically with healthy-looking ovary, the ovules undeveloped. The only injuries were to the skull. There can be little or no doubt that the unfortunate female Downy just referred to is the bird which we have seen at least once and often several times, daily, at the suet in the lilacs on March 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17. N o male has been seen with her until this morning, although there was one drumming in the big elm and afterwards climbing up a locust tree in front of the house yesterday morning. What led up to the tragedy above described can only be conjectured. M y guess is that the female came to the suet for her usual breakfast and while getting it was attacked by the male, who at first may have merely intended to drive her away. She may have angered him by some show of resistance. I do not think that either bird could have been there long before the crisis began for I had been in the room for fully half an hour before this and had looked out frequently to

233

Concord River watch the Chickadees and Nuthatches as they flitted about the suet while Gilbert had been doing the same thing for some time before I came down, as he was preparing the table for our breakfast. I am inclined to think that the female was the bird which has nested several years past in the dead limb of the tall elm that shades the woodshed at the east end of the house and that the male who murdered her was not her mate. My reasons for so thinking are ( i ) because she has been here so constantly ever since the i zth and (2) because the male was not seen about the place previous to yesterday. Of course both surmises may be wrong. Düring previous years the breeding pair have always seemed on good terms with each other and have been accustomed to feed quite amicably at the suet, as far as I can remember (but not both on it at once).

March23,

ipii

GREAT M I X E D FLOCK OF CROW BLACKBIRDS AND BED-WINGS.

De-

spite the high, cold wind that raged about the old farm house all day, we saw a really extraordinary number of birds there. . . . About I P.M. I heard a sudden uproar of Blackbird voices. Hurrying to the nearest window, I saw an enormous flock of Crow Blackbirds and Red-wings in the tops of the two tall elms just to the west of the house. They were very evenly distributed throughout both trees, looking exactly like large, sable fruit clinging to almost every small branch and twig. Gilbert and I counted them several times, making the total numbers about 234

Grackles Flocking

Concord River 170! About two-thirds were Crow Blackbirds and one-third Red-wings. As the wind was blowing half a gale at the time, they had obvious difficulty in clinging to their swaying perches, yet they remained fully exposed to its fury in those tree-tops for nearly ten minutes, during which scarce a single bird shifted its position. The Red-wings sang almost incessantly, their voices Coming in successive bursts which drowned the roaring of the wind and rang out in wild, jubilant choruses. . . .

March 50,

igii

Fox Spatrows singing gloriously all about the house in the early morning and again just before sunset, one following another in quick succession so that the sound of their rieh voices was almost perfectly continuous for minutes at a time. Occasionally one would break in on another, but this was not usual. It was a treat to hear them to such advantage as I sat in my arm-chair by the fire. It was not necessary to open a window to get the entire song. Many of them sang on the ground, in the intervals of feeding at the seed bed on the front banking. There were 16 there at once. FOX SPARROWS.

Retuming from Ball's Hill at 5 P . M . , I was surprised to hear a number of Wood Frogs in füll cry in the pool at the foot of the orchard slope although fully two-thirds of it is still encased in thick winter ice. FIRST WOOD FROGS.

235

Concord River October i^, LONG-EARED OWL S E E N IN E V E N I N G T W I L I G H T .

i^ii

A s I WaS r c -

turning from Davis's Hill to Ball's Hill about half an hour after sunset this evening, an Owl of the size of a Partridge started from the big black oak that stands on the edge of the swampy hollow filled with button bushes and, after circling over me within 15 feet, returned to the oak, where it perched for a moment on a large limb about 20 feet above the ground. This was repeated a dozen times or more. Usually the bird came out directly towards me and after circling dose around me went back directly into the tree, where it always alighted on one of the stouter branches, not more than 20 feet up. Sometimes, however, it flew away from me at first and, after crossing an opening beyond the swamp, came back over me to the oak, while twice it alighted in a leafless maple on the opposite side of the road from the oak and on the edge of the meadow. Finally it flew out across the meadow nearly, if not quite, to the edge of the river, where I lost sight of it in the gathering gloom. Although it seemed nervous and very restless, it was not at all shy but, on the contrary, evidently quite fearless of me and apparently curious to make out just what kind of a being I was. Its repeated returns to the oak indicated that it had a strong preference for this particular tree, perhaps because of its immense size or because of its position on the edge of a mousehaunted swamp. Nevertheless the bird did not once remain in this tree for more than a minute or two at a time. It sat rather erect when perched, but in an easy attitude. Frequently it stretched out its neck and bent its gaze intently earthward, 236

Concord River while once it bobbed not only its head but its body, also, up and down quite violently three or four times in rapid succession. Düring most of the time its head looked round and showed no ear tufts but twice it erected them for a moment and I saw them outlined distinctly against the sky above the tree. Although they looked rather short for those of a long-eared Owl, I have little or no doubt that the bird was a representative of that species. Its flight was slow, easy, graceful, somewhat erratic and, on the whole, not unlike that of a Night Hawk although at times suggesting that of a big moth. Flapping its broad wings a few times, it would glide without further effort for twenty or thirty yards before beating them again, inclining now to the right, next to the left, and often describing circles of about loo yards in circumference. More than once I thought it might be looking for prey, while thus engaged. Twice I heard a low, guttural cry midway between a grünt and a dog-like bark which seemed to come from it as it was on wing but which I could not be sure it uttered.

April i6, GREAT BLUE HERONS MIGRATING AT IMMENSE HEIGHT.

ipi2 At

2

P.M. I saw two Great Blue Herons Aying over the Farm towards the north-east at an elevation of fully a mile, one following closely in the wake of the other. For the most part they flapped their wings steadily and ceaselessly but twice I saw one of them sail for the distance of a few rods on set wings. I cannot remember ever before seeing Herons of any kind Aying at so great a height. 237

Concord River CANADA GEESE MIGRATING AT GREAT HEIGHT.

As I waS paSsing

through Birch Field at 4.20 P.M. I heard the distant honk of a Goose, given twice. A moment later the flock of 36 Canada Geese appeared so very high in air that they looked no larger than Bluebirds. Heading due north over Green Field they were soon out of sight nor did I again hear them call. T h e y were Aying in the usual V-formation. T h e y must have been at least a mile above the earth. Rarely have I witnessed anything of the kind so impressive.

]uly 20, ipi2 CONCORD RIVER.

The river is flowing just now through a wild-

flower garden of exceeding beauty, extending on both sides from Ball's Hill all the way to Carlisle Bridge and beyond and made up of broad belts of white water lilies backed by narrower ones of purple-flowered pickerel-weed, with button bushes covered with creamy white blossom forming the background. I sailed almost to the bridge in a canoe this afternoon and was thrilled by the wonderful display of color. There were plenty of Red-wings and Bobolinks wheeling in flocks over the marshes and clustering about the beds of wild rice, but I saw few other birds except Swallows, most of which were Barn Swallows. The only birds heard singing were Red-wings, Song Sparrows and Swamp Sparrows. The Veeries were wholly silent even after sunset. The two young Veeries in the nest by the path near the cabin which hatched a week ago to-morrow are half grown and partly feathered. 238

Concord River September i^, NIGHT CALLS OF MIGRATING THRUSHES.

Although I had

1^12 SeCIl

very few birds about, they were migrating in some numbers between 10 and 11 P.M., when I heard the calls of Warbiers or Thrushes every few minutes as I sat reading in the cabin with door and window open. . , . MYSTERIOUS NOCTURNAL SOUNDS HEARD A T B A L L ' S HILL.

JuSt

after I had gone to bed (at 11 P.M.) something began making a variety of low, clucking, murmuring and twittering sounds just outside my bedroom windows. These were repeated at short intervals for half an hour or more. They seemed to come from beneath the window, which is only about 8 feet above the ground of the steeply-sloping, wooded hillside. Some of the clucks were closely like those of the Hermit Thrush, but fainter. Every now and then I heard a light rustling of dry leaves which I thought was made by the author of the vocal notes and which was no more than the movements of a Mouse might have caused. What the creature was I have no idea. I thought at the time especially of a Skunk, because of the fact that this is one of the most sedulous of night ramblers when it is looking for crickets and grubs. But the sounds were rather bird-like, as a whole, and may have been uttered by a bird. I do not recall ever hearing them before.

239

Concord River April 4.-]uly p, ipi6 Never before have I known so many Cat-birds to breed within sight and sound of our farm-house. Three appeared together in front of it on May 5 and by the end of the month we had two pairs nesting in the shrubbery behind it, a third in that near the old poultry yard, a fourth in that just south of the cow pasture, a fifth at the Ritchie place and at least two more in the Berry Pasture across the public road. The birds last mentioned were probably harried by Jays and apparently reared no young, but those nearer the house were but little disturbed and were feeding young either in or just out of the nests before the dose of June. One nest was built in a snowberry bush directly under, and within a yard of, the pantry window. The male of this pair had a singularly unmusical song, consisting wholly of disconnected rasping and stuttering notes very trying to my ears, although perhaps not similarly displeasing to those of his mate. Although this nest was begun on May 18, the young had not left it by June 27. CAT-BiRD.

One of the three birds that arrived on May 5 was frequently employed during that day and the next in picjcing up nesting materials and carrying it into the Forsythia thicket where, however, she dropped at least most of it. While thus engaged she (for the bird was evidently a female) was closely followed by the other two, both of which looked like males. They kept fanning out their tails and quivering their half-opened wings, at the same time uttering subdued, wheezy sounds but no musical notes. Although apparently rival suitors of the female 240

Concord River bird, they did not once display the least animosity towards each other, N o Cat-bird in our neighborhood was heard to mimic the note of any other species of bird this year. ORANGE-CRESTED W A R B L E R .

M y very first Spring record of the

occurrence of this Warbier was made on May 13, when about 6.30 A.M. I came upon a bird sunning itself in a leafless thicket overrun with wild grapevines near our hillside poultry yard. Thence it flew, presently, to a low-sweeping branch of a large hickory and began probing the terminal swollen buds in much the same deliberate, abstracted manner as that so often characteristic of the Tennessee Warbier. It was very tarne and sluggish, permitting dose approach. From distances no greater than ten yards I watched it closely through my glass, in clear sunlight, for upwards of fifteen minutes, identifying it beyond all possibility of doubt. It was an exceptionally dull-colored bird, probably a female, with dusky olivaceous upper parts and grayish under parts, tinged only very slightly with yellowish. The top of [its] head appeared uniform with the back in general coloring but its sides showed ill-defined and scarce noticeable superciliary stripes. The bird was quite alone and uttered no sound save an occasional faint lisping tsip, sometimes abbreviated to tsi. WHITE-CROWNED

SPARROW.

T w o handsome-plumaged birds

were together in our Farm lane on May 13. One uttered every now and then a sweet, plaintive song beginning with two notes very like a Vesper Sparrow's opening ones and followed by half 241

Concord River a dozen more suggestive of those of the Tree Sparrow. My crude, whistled imitation of them was often promptly answered by their author. On the i^th a single bird, also in the lane, sang at intervals all day long. His song, wild and plaintive, reminded me of a Meadow Lark's. He also uttered the ivhit call and a faint, lisping chirp common to most Sparrows. It was, no doubt, the self-same male that continued to haunt the lane or the Forsythia thicket in front of our house during the next two days. On the 15th he was heard in füll song, every now and then, through the entire day but on the i6th kept silent save in early morning. He had a wild, sweet, plaintive voice and notes essentially unvaried in form and sequence yet differing sufficiently in quality or expression from time to time to remind me by turns of those of the Vesper Sparrow, of the Tree Sparrow, of the Meadow Lark and, occasionally, even of the Hermit Thrush. Such suggestiveness implies, of course, that the song was very pleasing, and it so impressed me despite the fact that it was not sufficiently loud to be heard distinctly and to the best advantage at distances exceeding fifty or sixty yards.

Augustßo-November

4, ipid

CAPE MAY WARBLERS occuR COMMONLY. The Cape May Warbier used to be considered — no doubt rightly — a rare and irregulär visitor to eastern Massachusetts. Within the past few years it has been reported oftener and more regularly but never 242

Concord River heretofore in anything like the numbers which appeared about our Concord farm this autumn. It was first noted there on September 4 when three young birds ( i male, 2 females) were Seen feeding together in gray birches and white pines in Birch Field, in Company with Warbiers of several other species. O n the 6th not less than ten or a dozen Cape May Warbiers spent the entire day (a dark, cloudy and mostly rainy one) in trees or shrubbery near our house, ranging hither and thither through the apple orchard, drifting to and fro along the old farm lane and lingering for upwards of an hour in thickets bordering on the lawn, across which Henshaw and I viewed them through our opera glasses and a plate glass window of the dining room — within which we were then sitting. Nevertheless it proved impracticable to count them accurately at this or any other time for not all were ever in sight at once, although as many as five or six sometimes showed themselves there, perhaps on the same tree top or even on the same branch, while several others might simultaneously be less plainly seen, or merely heard chirping amid dense fohage not far off. Some were almost constantly engaged b y couples in sportive pursuit of one another, during which they dashed hither and thither at top speed, alternately appearing in open spaces and disappearing among bordering thickets. Y e t even the more widely scattered birds kept ever sufficiently in touch with all the rest to follow the same direction pursued b y them while drifting back and forth. A s has been stated, there must have been altogether at least a dozen of them and it is not improbable that there may have been quite half as many more. T h e only birds of other species seen with them were a Red-eyed Vireo and an Oven243

Concord River bird. Hence the flock consisted almost solely of Cape May Warbiers. Most of these were females, showing little or no yellow and evidently young of the year but there were at least tw'o males, one a handsome adult, the other immature. . . . The appearance together at Concord of so many of these Warbiers on one occasion and the not infrequent presence of others during a period covering almost an entire month would be more surprising were it not that within the past few years the beautiful birds have been reported as occurring elsewhere in ever-increasing numbers, especially while migrating southward in early autumn through Massachusetts and the Middle Atlantic States. Whether or not there had been corresponding increase throughout their breeding grounds in northern N e w England and the IVIaritime Provinces, such as N e w Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it would be interesting to learn. The south-bound flight of Blue Jays Coming from further north was exceptionally heavy this year. Beginning about the middle of September, if not somewhat earlier, it reached its maximum height between the 20th and 2 5th of the month when, for three or four days in succession, the loud-voiced birds were so abundant and wide-spread that one could not go anywhere without having them almost constantly in sight and hearing, During this period they especially frequented our deciduous woods through which they roamed ceaselessly in small, scattered flocks, seeking food which must have been rather scarce for most of the trees had suffered too severely from the attacks of gypsy moth and other larvae to mature fruit of any kind. There was, however, a single large 244 B L U E J A Y MIGRATION.

Concord River scarlet oak, growing in an open field, which having been protected b y spraying bore a plentiful crop of acorns and on these the Jays feasted as long as they lasted, Holding them underfoot while hammering them with their beaks to remove the outer shell and thronging the tree at all hours of the day. I saw them thus engaged for the last time on October 6. Düring the remainder of that month it was unusual to note more than two or three daily and almost none remained after November i. MIGRATING CROWS.

Flocks of Ctows, bred or breeding further

to the north and migrating southward over or past our farm, were noted there between October i3th and November i i t h . Almost all these flights occurred between 7 and 10 A.M, T h e birds composing them invariably pursued a south-westerly or perhaps even westerly course, never a directly southward one. T h e y usually passed very high in air, following one another in straggling order and at such wide intervals that the vanguard of a flock containing no more than one hundred members might become lost to view in the far distance before its rearguard appeared in sight. Such, at least, was their custom in clear and serene weather, when it was interesting to watch their leisurely, level and straight-onward flight as they passed in seemingly endless and impressively well-ordered procession, all keeping to nearly the same elevated, aerial pathway but following one another at least fifty or more yards apart. O n such occasions the sound of their voices, Coming from far and near, was very pleasing, especially when mellowed b y distance. For the most part it consisted of single caivs, uttered with ever-varying intonations b y widely-separated members of the sable throng. 245

Concord River There was seldom or never any clamorous and general outcry excepting when, as occasionally happened, the birds descended to feed awhile in grassy meadows or fields of unharvested com. Then and there they were given to not infrequent outbursts of prolonged and vociferous cawing in which every member of the flock seemed to be taking part. Although passing oftenest during tranquil weather, the migrant Crows sometimes appeared when it was otherwise and then might be seen in rather compact flocks, now mounting above, next disappearing below or behind wooded ridges with many a graceful, curving swoop, as they advanced laboriously against violent, adverse gusts of wind, RESIDENT CROWS WITH PECULiAR CALLS.

Our locally-resident

Crows seemed disinclined to intermingle with alien ones invading their haunts on such occasions but instead busied themselves with their own affairs, in accustomed ways. That most if not all of them remain in Concord throughout the year is open to little doubt. Such, at least, is certainly the case with one particular bird whose unvarying and characteristic caiv-cär-e-e (very strongly emphasized on the second syllable) has been heard at every season, for now half a dozen or more years, in the neighborhood of our farm and at Ball's Hill. Both localities have been frequented still longer, if less constantly, by another Crow whose habitual, if not only, utterance (I have heard him give no other) is a deep-toned oh-ah not unlike that of a Barred Owl and having acoustic qualities which render the sound extremely difücult to locate as regards distance and direction. Often have I thought its author far away when he was dose at 246

Concord River hand —or vice versa. He comes and goes at all seasons and sometimes is apparently absent for several successive weeks — or even months.

Cambridge, Tuesday, March 12, 1^18 "Timmy," my Irish Terrier, w ^ run Over by a motor truck about 10 A.M. and breathed his last some 20 minutes later. Of this they told me nothing until late in the day, I then being in bed and rather seriously ill. Percy's account of what happened, as given me by him several weeks later, is as follows. T I M ' S U N T I M E L Y DEATH.

"Timmy" was let out in the garden about 9.45 A.M. He found a hole in the wire fence on Sparks Street and escaping through it made his way down that street to Craigie Street, where he was run over not far beyond the watering trough. A small boy, who noticed him lying there, brought word to Percy. The ground was covered rather deeply with fresh fallen snow and he was lying in this just outside the roadway. He did not seem to know either Percy or Gilbert when brought into the Museum. Thus perished the very dearest dog I have ever had. The news of it unmanned me completely in my weakened condition. NOTE: Brewster's own death occurred on July ii, 1919.

247

Index

Index Accipker. See H a w k Adams, H a r r y O., 2 2 6 - 2 2 8 Agelaius. See Red-wing Almy, 9 Anlmals, predacious, seek victims at some distance f r o m their own homes, 177 Animal tracks, 20; scarcity, 1 1 2 Apple trees, in bloom, 8, 135 Arlington, Mass., 96 Arlington Reservoir, 100 Arnold, Mr., 155 Arnold's pasture, 154 Ash Swamp, 72 Assabet River, 145, 146 Audubon, John James, 186 Autumn coloring, 76, 115 Ball's Hill, 1 0 - 2 4 Ö , passim Ball's Hill Swamp, i i o , 112 Barrett, Mrs., 31, Barrett Farm, 141, 145, 146, 193 Barrett House, 141, 156 Barrett Spring, 197 Barrett woods, 146 Barrett's Meadow, 31, 124, 139 Barrett's Run, 115, 146, 216 Batrachian Sounds, 1 3 7 - 1 3 8 Bats, roosting, 1 5 8 - 1 5 9 Beaver Dam Lagoon, 139, 223 Beaver Dam Rapids, 57, 63, 112, 138 Bedford, Mass., 20, 74, 83, 84, 116 Bedford Swamp, 1 1 , 96, 128, 130 Bensen, Mr., 91, 157 Bensen's, 55, i i i , 124, 171, 185 Bensen's bam, i i i

Bensen's field, 126, 151 Bensen's Hill, 84 Bensen's house, 81, 83 Bensen's Knoll, 70, 75, 92, i i i Bensen's landing, 173 Bensen's pasture, 125, 156 Birch Field, 185, 188, 214, 216, 218 Birch Island, 118, 140, 158 Bird's Nest Island, 15 Birds, heavy flight, 9; stränge cry, 26, 1 7 5 - 1 7 Ö ; effect of heat on singing, 3 5 , 58; singing at sunset, 40, 46; effect of cool weather on singing, 47; end of singing season, 6 0 - 6 1 ; singing at daybreak, 83, 165; at evening, 93; on river at evening, 97; spring sounds, 117; great numbers, 134, 197; in migration, 65, 6 6 - 6 9 , 76, 77, 7 8 - 7 9 , 85, 86, 87, 108, 185,

HO,

141,

152-153,

213, 237-238,

239,

Bittern, 14-15, 97, 116,

169-170,

92, 182,

244-245

136; protective

coloration, 179 Bittern, Least, 175; quality of voice, 37; cooing note, loo-ioi Blackbird, Crow. See Grackle, Bronzed Blackbird, Red-winged. See Red-wing Blackbird, Rusty, 139, 182; going to roost, 7, 138 Blackcap, Wilson's. See Warbier, W ü son's Blackpoll, 136 Blakeman Ridge, n6, 139 Blakeman W o o d s , 147 Bluebird, 26, 28, 40, 145, iö6, 182, 203, 231, 238; love notes, 151; fervent song, 1Ö5; warbling, 197

251

Index Bobolink, 29, 31, 39, 40, 62, 66, 135, 136; absence, 95, 97; two males singing, 194-195; flocks, 238 Bobwhite or Quail, 55, 58, 61, 62, 85; nest with eggs, 154-155; whistles, 182 Bolles, Mr., 12, 56 Boston, Mass., 113, 141 Bowditch, Mr., 173 Bowles, Mr., 107 Bewies brothers, 106 Bow Meadow, 61 Bubo. See Owl Bunting, Snow, 15, 20 Burrill, Mr., 50 Burrills', 58, 59 Butcher Bird. See Shrike Buteo lineatus. See Hawk, Red-shouldered Buctrick, Mr., 72, 85 Buttricks', 15, 32, 43, 91 Buzzard, Turkey, or Turkey Vulture, 84, 120

Cistothorus stellaris. See Wren, Shortbilled Marsh ClamsheU Hill, 50, 76, 106 Clark's, 46, 58 Clark's pasture, 54 Clark's woods, 58 Colaptes. See Flicker Collybia macülMa, 141 Conantum, 76 Corvus Americanus. See Crow Cowbird, 140; among Cows, 179 Crane, Sandhill, 78 Creeper, 26, 35, 163, 182 Creeper, Black and White. See Warbier, Black and White Creeper, Brown, m Cricket, Tree, 182

Cambridge, Mass., 9, 50, 88, 93, 94, 96, 113, 167, 169; Sparks Street, 94, 247; Mt. Auburn Cemetery, 95; Craigie Street, 247 Carlisle, Mass., 3, 79 Carlisle Bridge, 74, 121, 140, 238 Carroll, George, 8i

Crow 16, 19, 26, 31, 62, 89, III, 116, 126, 133, 155, 182; with the voice of a Raven, 32; harassed by Red-wing, 40; flock mobs an Owl, 64-65; apples pecked by, 75-76; migrating, 76, 7879, 245-246; love notes, n8; mobbing Great Homed Owl, 130, 131, 158; sometimes eats mushrootns, 141; raiding nests of smaU birds, 178; peculiar calls, 246-247 Cuckoo, 51 Cuckoo, Black-billed, 37, 39, 40, 41, 58 Cuckoo, Yellow-billed, 37, 98

Catbird, 29, 39, 46, 54, 155; singing, 5051; breeding birds, 240-241 Cedar Bird, 62; eating petals of apple blossoms, 188-189 Chadbourne, Mr., 140 Chapman, Frank M., 32, 76, 109 Chickadee, 16, 27, 92, io8, iio, 126, 139, 144, 182, 195-196; eating suet, 150, 231; feeding on the ground, 198; excavating for nest, 214-215 Chipmunk, 72,121,122, 180; alarms Song Sparrow, 33 Chippy. See Sparrow, Chipping Cicada, 62

Dakin's Hill, 135, 136, 138 Damsdale, 16 Damsdale meadow, 17, 23 Damsdale pool, 63 Davis swamp, 81, iio, 115, 147 Davis's Hill, 55, 78, 93, 116, 118, 121, 124, 140, 144, 149, 152, 156, 163, 183, 185, 236 Deane, Walter, 106, 134, 169 Deer, seen in woods, 213-214 Deer fly, 40 Derby's Lane, 16, 72; in snow, 88-89 Dogs, Larry, 204, 214, 218; Tim, 247

252

Index Dove, 93; simulates flight of wounded bird, 48-49; abandons imitation, 5253; young in nest, 53, 56; first flight of young, 70-71; history of nesc, 71-72; pair, 185 Dove, Carolina, 31, 83, 84, 95-96, 191; on roof of shed, 187-188 Duck, Black, 7, 11, 84, 85, 90, 93, 98 Duck, Dipper. See Grebe, Pied-billed Duck, Dusky, 8 Duck, Scaup, 93 Duck, Wood, 114 Dutton's, 47, 58 Dutton's Lane, 46 East Lexington, Mass., 147, 151 Edward, 95 Egg Rock, 90 Ehlert's, 95 Emerson, Edward W., 145, 218 Emerson, Raymond, 169 Emerson, William, 169 Estabrook Road, 16, 46, 54, 58, 72 Estabrook Woods, 28, 58, 72 Fairhaven Bay, 6, 7, 29, 76, 77, 106 Fairhaven Hill, 29 Faxon, Walter, 14, 66, 96, 98, 99, 100, 116 Finch, Grass. See Sparrow, Vesper Finch, Lincoln's. See Sparrow, Lincoln's Finch, Purple, 167, 205 Flannery, Pat, 213, 214 Flicker, 14, 49, 86, 116, 145, 165, 182; markings of young, 44-45; variations in flight, 73; shouting on wing, 116 Flint's Bridge, 26, 97 Flycatcher, Crested, on nest, 228-229 Flycatcher, Least, 26, 46, 95 Flycatcher, Traill's, reason for late migration, 153 Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied, 149 Forbush, Mr., 190, 209, 213 Fox, faeces, 12-13; tracks, 20; Partridge killed by, 20; mouse captured by, 21;

gait, tracks, and food, 23-24; seen in woods, i i o - i i i ; trail of, 1 1 1 - H 2 ; attracted by "squeaking," 181; startling cry, 192; probable killer of Squirrel, 218 French, Daniel Chester, annual day on the river, 5-8 Fresh Pond, Cambridge, 102 Frog, Bull, 39, 40, 41, 137 Frog, Green, 39, 41, 133, 137 Frog, Leopard, 93, 172, 197; swallows Wood Frog, 190 Frog, Wood, 93, 166,172, 197; swallowed by Leopard Frog, 190; in ice-covered pool, 235 Gallinule, 98, 177 Gallinule, Florida, 100; pair on Reservoir Pond, 101-104 Geese, misled by obliteration of landmarks, 121; honking in flight, 156-157 George, 74, 95 Gilbert, R . A., 141, 144, 147, 150, 153, 154, 156, 157, 162, 171, 172, 176, 178, 199, 228, 231, 234, 247 Glacial Hollow, 108, 183 Glover, 26 Goldfinch, öl, 182, 224 Goosander. See Merganser, American Goose, Canada, 85; flock going north, 116; swimming in the river, 140; flock at great height, 169-170, 238 Goshawk, 217; gliding at great height, 220 Grackle, Bronzed, or Crow Blackbird, 30, 88, 176, 177; flock feeding, 139-, migrating, 141; flock with Red-wings, 234-235 Grackle, Rusty, 30, 51; enormous roost, 138, 139 Great Meadows, 26, 64, 73, 84, 93, 96, 97, 115, 124, 156, 174, 222 Grebe, 7 , 1 4 7 , 1 5 1 - 1 5 2 ; nest, 152; Cuckoo call, 152

253

Index Grebe, Pied-billed, loo; breeding in Reservoir Pond, 97; calls, 98; female with young, 99; nests and "bluff nests," 148-149 Green Field, 181, 185, 238 Grosbeak, 39 Grosbeak, Rose-breasted, 29; males and female feeding together, 173; size of bills, 173; nest raided by Crow, 178 Grouse, Ruffed, or Partridge, 6, 1 1 , 13, 16, 27, 29, 71, 85, H O , I I I , 116, 125, 126, 182, 201; clucks during flight, 18; killed by Fox, 20; roosts under snow, 24; flight notes, 114; habit of dusting in ant hüls, 141; eats mushroom, 141; "madness," 145-146; more than one drumming place, 146-147; disturbed near river, 172-173; drumming, 180; "budding" in lata spring, 186-187; nest, 187; killed and eaten by large Hawk, 216-217; "budding" in poplar, 220-221, in wild apple tree, 225-226; colony of breeding birds, 226-228 Gull, Herring, 124 Gun Field, 146 Hall's Birches, 8 Hansen, Mr., 83 Hathaway, A . H., 147 Hawk, 83, 217; catches young Martin, 59-60 Hawk, Broad-winged, 10 Hawk, Cooper's, 77, 97, 220; chases Grass Finch, 29-30; pursued by Redwinged Blackbird, 52; kills hen, 9 1 92; Strange behavior, 108-109; cackling in autumn, 180; flight like that of Marsh Hawk, 185-186; disturbs feeding Fox Sparrows, 204-205; characteristic method of hunting, 215 Hawk, Duck, with prey, 191-192 Hawk, Marsh, 77, 91, 92, 96, 113; beating a meadow, 10; position of legs in

254

flight, 67-68; fluttering flight, 74-75; coursing, 83-84; position of head in flight, 119-120; unusual manner of flight, 173-174 Hawk, Pigeon, 77 Hawk, Red-shouldered, 13, 25, 31, 72, 77, 90, 91, 133, 167, 220; high flight, 10; wild screaming, 215-216; gliding at great height, 219; pair, 230 Hawk, Red-taUed, 19, 52, 77, 80, 89, 96; character of cry, 50; immature plumage, 50 Hawk, Rough-legged, 126 Hawk, Sharp-shinned, 88; characteristic method of hunting, 215; chases Chipping Sparrow, 222 Hawk, Sparrow, watching for mice, 87-88 Heard's Bridge, 30 Heath's Bridge, 106, 107 Henshaw, 243 Heron, Great Blue, 7, 31, 77-78, migrating at great height, 237 Heron, Night, 31 Heyward, Roland, 175, 176 Hoar, Judge, 30 Hoar place, 88 Hoffmann, Mr., 83, 84 Holden, George, 85, 157-158, 187 Holden farm, 182 Holden's, 17, 18 Holden's Hill, 63, 80, 105, iio, 114, 139, 143, 215 Holden's meadow, 20, 32, 79, 149, Holt, the, 26, 40, 41, 52, 78, 80, 113, 135. 179 Honeysuckle Island, 15, 104 Hornbeam, 29 Hosmer, Miss, 141 Howe, Mr., 190, 220 Hubbard, Mr., 94, 109 Hubbard Pastures, 72 Humming-bLrd, 136, 158, 200 Hunt's Knoll, 92 Hunt's Landing, 52, 90, 91

115;

124, 175 115,

Index Hunt's Pond, 12 Hylas, 28, 93, 166, 172; Pickering's, 62, 90, 124, 197 Ice Storni, effects, 1 4 4 - 1 4 5

James, 231 Jay, Blue, 6, lö, 26, 27, 48, 49, 51, 62, 81, 83, I I I , 116, 117, 155, 164, 179, 182; killed by Fox while roosting, 23; imitates screaming of a Red-shouldered Hawk, 72; imitates call of Canada Jay, 119; stores away bread, 143-144; raid on Redstart's nest, 153154; notes of young, 163; nest, 177; seized by Hawk, 196; Crow assailed, 196; heavy migration, 244-245 Jay, Canada, 119, 143 Junco, 9, IG, 13, 17, 86, 87, III, 182, 201, 204, 206; galt, 191; feeding, 198; scratching motion compared with that of Fox Sparrows, 199; early to bed, 199-200; roosting birds, 201-202; unusual numbers feeding, 203 Keyes, George, 10 Keyes, Miss, 141, 143 Keyes, Mr., 43, 108 Kingbird, 40, 95; disappearance of nest, 51; young broods, 55; chases Dragonfly, 55; nest, 104; odd behavior, 195 Kingfisher, 29, 69, 213; curious flight, 28; learning to fish, 48 Kinglet, Golden-crested, 92, 164; grace and animation, 200 Kinglet, Ruby-crowned, 92, 94, 128, 151 Kite, Mississippi, 120 Kite, Swallow-tailed, 120 Lancaster, Mass., 159 Lang's Landing, 96 Lark, Horned, 167 Lawrence's field, 215 Lawrence's Pines, 157

Lawrence's Woods, 128, 130, 131, 132, 135, 167, 184 Ledum Swamp, 29 Lee Davis's Hill, 13, 38 Lee's Bridge, 7 Lee's Cliff, 50, 76; sunrise, 54 Lee's Hill, 50 Lexington, Mass., 99 Lincoln, Mass., 9, 95, 96 Lothrop, C. A., 147, 151 Lyman place, 9, 95 Mallard, 85 Manse, Old, 7, 12, 25 Martha's Point, 29, 76 Martin, 28, 30, 95; caught by Hawk, 5960 Mason Field, 118 Meadowlark, 12, 40, 54, 95, 242 Melvin, 79 Merganser, American, or Goosander, swimming, 11; in flight, 84-85, 92-93; fishing, 142 Merwyn, Mr., 59 Mill Brook, lö Mink, swims the river, 63; seen in daylight, 73-74 Minute Man, 26 Mnioülta. See Warbier, Black and White Mole, tunnel above ground, 19 Monument Street, Concord, 25 Mouse, Field, 17, 65, i i i , 239; killed by Fox, 21; killed by Shrike, 26; tameness, 27; traUs, 112; burrow, 121-122; manner of barking trees, 122 Mouse, Meadow, eating grass blades, 127-128 Muskrat, 27, 41, 63, 128; motion of tail in swimming, 38; nest with young, 4'-43 Nichols, Mr., 173, 174 Nighthawk, 113, 149, 174, 226, 237; migrating flocks, 68

255

Index Night sounds, 65, 239 Nine Acre Bridge, 29 North Bridge, 86, 88, n i , 113 Nuthatch, Canada, 66 Nuthatch, White-bellied, 12, 174; at work on nest, 193-194; pair eating suet, 230-231 Nuthatch, White-breasted, i n Oriole, 40, 93, 96, 110; brood of young, 43-44; history of nest, 44; eating ehernes, 53 Osprey, or Fish Hawk, 7, 14, 69; catches a Tortoise, 69-70 Ovenbird, 108, 185, 243 Owl, 13, 201, 217; nest, 12; mobbed by Crows, 64-65; skins, 119 Owl, Barred, 184, 246; hunting at midday, 81-83; coloring, 82 Owl, Great Horned, 78-80, 217; young birds, 129-135; Strange behavior of old birds, 130; variety of sounds uttered by adults, 132; food of young, 133; burdened by trap, 157-158; mobbed by Crows, 158; Serenade by a pair, 183-184 Owl, Long-eared, 22; circling flight, 236237 Owl, Saw-whet, medley of calls, i8i Owl, Screech, 51, 155; in hole, 14; pair on evening hunt, 25-26 O w l , Short-eared, seen at evening in Silhouette, 1 1 2 - 1 1 3

Päd Island, 175 Parker's pasture, 140 Partridge. See Grouse, Ruffed Parula. See Warbier, Parula Fat, 124, 151, 157, 180, 187 Payson place, 95 Percy, 247 Ferisoreus. See Jay, Canada Peter, 26, 81 Pewee, Wood, 31, 39, 58 Pheasant, 230

256

Phoebe, 69, 165, 187, 230; alights and sings in cabin, 171-172; male on guard at nest, 186; song flight, 197 Pigeon, 182, 187, 191, 203; caught by Cooper's Hawk, 180 Pine Park, 196, 201, 211 Pine Point. See Umbagog, Lake Pine Ridge, 199, 201 Pipit, American, or Titlark, 6, 182; perching in ash tree, 1 1 3 - 1 1 4 Plover, 37 Pout, Homed, 70 Pratt, Mr., 22, 72, 214, 221 Pratt's meadow, 24 Prescott Hill, 183 Prescott's Pines, 146, 147, i8i, 184, 185 Pulpit Rock, 167 Punkatassett Hill, 22, i n , 169 Purdie, Mr., 129, 150, 192 Quail. See Bobwhite Rabbit, 21, 28, i n , 210; tracks, 18; damage to trees, 122, 123-124; absence of tracks, 112; at play, 125; skin eaten by Owls, 129, 133; tameness, 150; running at unusual speed, 218 Kail, Carolina, tameness, 118; curious appearance, 119 Rail, Virginia, 90 Red Bridge, 90, 179 Redeye. See Vireo, Red-eyed Redpoll, Yellow, 185 Redstart, 94; nest raided by Blue Jays, 153-IJ4 Red-wing or Red-winged Blackbird, 28, 39t 90, 93t 97. " 5 . 145; large flock, 12; scarcity, 31; stränge behavior of male and female, 32-33; belabors a Crow, 40; chases Cooper's Hawk, 52; roosting, 56; flight at roost, 56-57; singing, 197; flock mixed with Rusty Grackles, 234-235; in flocks, 238 Reservoir Pond, 97, loi Richardson, Henry P., 219

Index Ripley's Hill, i6, 25, 91, 97 Ritchie house, 189, 220 Ritchie place, 191, 240 River, at sunset, 38-39 Robbins, Arthur, 3 Robbins, Mr., 3, y Robin, 9-231, passim-, abundant migration, 87; singing on wing, J47; nest spared by Jays, 177; in füll song, 197 Rock Meadows, 66 Sandpiper, 40; manner of drinking, 212"3 Sandpiper, Solitary, 135, 149 Sandpiper, Spotted, 135 Sargent, Charles, 163 Sheldrake. See Merganser, American Sherman's Bridge, 7 Shrew, 19 Shrevv, Short-tailed, killed by Fox, i n Shrike, or Butcher Bird, i n , 233; characteristic feature of winter landscape, 15; hardiness, 15; kills Field Mouse, 26; kills Warbier, 117; catches Aying insect, 125-126; House Sparrow impaled by, 219 Simmons house, 25 Skunk, 133, 239; digs out nest of Yellow Jacket Hornets, 164-165; speed in running, 209-210; night raid, 210-211 Snake, Carter, 103 Snapper. See Turtle, Snapping Snipe, 6, 84, 88; drumming, 65-66 Snipe, Wilson's, 149; scaiping and cackling, 90; drumming in late spring, 222224 Snow, 9, 16-17, 88-89, 120-121, 126, 143, 202, 231 South Lincoln, Mass., 95 Sparrow, Chipping, or Chippy, 55, 61, 94, 182; chased by Sharp-shinned Hawk, 222 Sparrow, Field, 9, 29, 40, 55 Sparrow, Fox, 9, 12, 36, 86-87, 9°. 167, 191, 202; quarrelsomeness, 89-90; feed-

ing and singing, 171, 200; feeding, 198; scratching motion compared with that of Juncos, 199; Imgering in twilight, 199; clamor among roosting birds, 201; unusual numbers feeding, 203; unusual tameness, 204; character of song, 205-206; fighting, 206-207; manner of carrying taü, 207-208; eats earthworm, 208; continuous singing, 235 Sparrow, House, impaled by Shrike, 219 Sparrow, Lincoln's, or Lincoln's Finch, 136; song, 94-95; movements and gait, 137 Sparrow, Savanna, 41 Sparrow, Song, 9-238, passim-, nest, 103; actions of nesting birds, 103-104; gait, 191; sustained singing, 229-230 Sparrow, Swamp, 54, 93, 95, 116, 238; in large numbers, 164 Sparrow, Tree, 9, 10, 12, 20, 83, 86, 90, 110, III, 116, 182, 202, 242; musical call, 17; singing, 197 Sparrow, Vesper, or Grass Finch, 47, 55, 58, 87, 116, 185, 205, 241, 242; eludes Cooper's Hawk, 30; song improves as season advances, 35-36; evening song, 46 Sparrow, White-crowned, plaintive song, 241-242 Sparrow, White-throated, 13, 95; mistaken for Warbiers, 163; feeding, 190; protective coloration, 191; manner of scratching, 191 Sparrow, Yellow-winged, 58 Sparrows, mixed flock, 9; song, lo; migrating, 69, 86; absence of, 144 Spelman, Mr., 50, 94 Spider, Balloon, 78 Spenge, fresh water, 8 Squirrel, Gray, 15, 73, 81, 89, 91, 114; playing in icy trees, 22; tameness, 22; tracks, 112; eating buds, 123; watches Red Squirrel eating, 127; broad leap, 123; crossing flooded swamp, 139; take ears of com, 182; tail found bitten off, 218

257

Index Squirrel, Red, 22, 73, 206; tracks, 112; feeding, 122; at provision basket, 127; does not molest com, 182 Squirrels, becoming wary and retiring, 21; abundance, 72-73 Stone, William, 112, 191 Strawberry Hill, 219 Sudbury Meadows, 7 Sudbury River, 13 Swallow, 28, 223; peculiar flight, 188 Swallow, Bank, 40, 188 Swallow, Barn, 30, 39, 41, 116, 188, 238; feeding young, 47-48; coursing over fields, 108 Swallow, Sand, 30 Swallow, Tree. See Swallow, Whitebellied Swallow, White-bellied, or Tree Swallow, 30, 116, 188 Swedenborgian settlement, 9 Swift, 39, 62, 188, 223; heavy migration, 109-110; four pairs, 189-190 Swift, Chimney, flying at night, 107-108; nest, 159; manner of entering and leaving chimney, 160; rumbling sound of wings, 161; movements at night, 161-162; use of tail for support, 162163; late migrant, 213 Tanager, Scarlet, 55, 174-175 Teal, Blue-winged, 7 Thayer, Abbott, 181 Thayer, Gerald, 181 Thayer, Mrs. John, 163 Thoreau, Henry David, 78 Thrasher, Brown, 8, 29, 35, 49, 51, 95, 136; young birds in nest, 34; plumage of young, 37; sotto voce singing, 37 Thrush, 213; migrating, 69, 153; night calls, 239 Thrush, Bicknell's, song, 156 Thrush, Gray-cheeked, 153 Thrush, Hermit, 164, 203, 239, 242; singing sotto voce, 146; unusually fine singer, 185 258

Thrush, Olive-backed, 153 Thrush, Tawny, 35 Thrush, Water, 136; in dry woods, 153; singing, 226 Thrush, Wilson's. See Veery Thrush, Wood, song, 58-59 Titlark. See Pipit, American Toad, Common, 41 Toad, Garden, 137 Tolman, Mr., 43 Tolman cottage, 161 Tortoise, Musk, nests raided by Skunk, 211 Tortoise, Painted, 36; caught by Osprey, 70; dug up, 151 Towhee, 14, 29, 62, 95, 205 Tree-toad, 62, 137 Turtle, Snapping, 36 Umbagog, Lake, 184, 212; Pine Point, 119, 132, 212 Veery, or Wilson's Thrush, 39; begin singing, 149-150; night call, 211-212; young birds, 238 Vegetation, spring, 96, 115, 116, 174, 197; summer, 61, 238 Vireo, Red-eyed, 54, 243; nest spared by Jays, 177-178; nest tom down by cat, 178-179 Vireo, Solitary, 108, 128; nest taken, 105-106; song, 158 Vireo, Warbling, 61, 95; singing on nest, 105 Vireo, Yellow-throated, 95; nest, 105; singing on nest, 224-225 Vulture, Black, 120 Vulture, Turkey. See Buzzard, Turkey Wachusett, 9 Waiden Pond, 95 Warbler, 39, 48, 65, 96-97, 107, 212, 213; in migration, 69, 152; killed by Shrike, 117; night calls, 239 Warbler, Blackpoll, 117, 136, 152, 164

Index Warbier, Black and White, or Black and White Creeper, 9, 95, 185 Warbier, Black-throated Green, 95, 185 Warbier, Canadian, 136, 153 Warbier, Cape May, occurs in increasing numbers, 242-244 Warbier, Chestnut-sided, 9, 39, 108 Warbier, Golden-winged, 9, 135 Warbier, Mourning, 94 Warbler, Orange-crested, appearance, 241 Warbler, Parula, 29 Warbler, Pine, 128, 144; song, 92; flight song, 116-117; building nest, 146 Warbler, Tennessee, deliberate, abstracted manner, 241 Warbler, Wilson's, or Wilson's Blackcap, 136 Warbler, Yellow, 29, 40, 94, 95, 97 Warbler, Yellow Palm, 29, 88, 92, 128 Warbler, Yellow-rumped, 29, 95, 128, 164, 182, 185 Wayland, 7 Weasel, swimming at night, 57-58 West Bedford, Mass., 8J, 125, 153, 198, 229

Weston, Mass., 95, 96 Whippoorwill, 47, 55, 149 Wild Rice Island, 77 Wood, 151 Woodchuck, 39; cut off from hole, 190 Woodcock, song and song flight, 3-5, 166-167; sings late at night, 167; description of flight song, 168; female peeping, 168-169; love notes, 170-171; tilting of wings, 208-209 Woodpecker, 163, 224 Woodpecker, Downy, 12, 17, 116, 144, 182; building nest, 192-193; male kills female, 231-234 Woodpecker, Hairy, 28, 182 Wren, House, 94 Wren, Long-billed Marsh, 41, 107 Wren, Short-billed Marsh, 61; nest with eggs, 106-107 Wren, Winter, 92 Wright, Mr., 75 Yellowlegs, Greater, 43; flock feeding, 135-136 Yellowthroat, Maryland, 39, 40

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