14 May 1855 – 20 May 1855

Our peaches begin to bloom; others prob- ably earlier. Domestic plums open; some maybe yes- terday. Missouri currant open yesterday or day before. One apple on a roof open. The beech blossom in house opens; say to-morrow in woods, and probably will leaf generally by the next day. Second gooseberry in garden open. White ash begins to leaf; and waxwork. Clethra leafs. High blueberry open by Hubbard’s Bath. Black scrub oak leafs, and chinquapin. Red choke-berry leafed, say two days later than black. P. M. — To Cliffs xa Hubbard’s Bath. See a male hen-harrier skimming low along the side of the river, often within a foot of the muddy shore, looking for frogs, with a very compact flock of small birds, probably swallows, in pursuit. Occasionally he alights and walks or hops flutteringly a foot or two over the ground. The Lombardy poplar and silvery white leafed at least two days ago. Vaccinium vacillans leafed, and perhaps flower opened, if that is one near West Fair Haven Spring. Some hickories, just open- ing their leaves, make quite a show with the red inner sides of the bud-scales turned back. All the oak leaves off the shrub oak plain, except apparently a few white oaks. Some gaylussacias leafed. Uva-ursi at Cliffs out some time, and some new shoots leafing. Under the dead pine on which the fish hawk sat on the 12th znst., a half-milé from the river, I find a few fish bones — one, I am pretty sure from compari- son, the jaw of a pout. So that in three instances, the only ones observed this year, they were feeding on pouts. Probably the mice, etc., had picked up the rest of his 1855) AN OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER(?) 379 droppings. ‘Thus these inhabitants of the interior get a taste of fish from time to time, — crumbs from the fish hawk’s table. Prinos verticillatus leafs.

P. M. — To Beck Stow’s. Suddenly very warm. Hear a hummingbird in the garden. Pear blossomed,— some perhaps yesterday. Locust, black and scarlet oak, and some buttonwoods leaf. A yellow butterfly. I hear from the top of a pitch pine in the swamp that loud, clear, familiar whistle which I have sometimes wrongly referred to the wood pewee, — whip-ter-phe-ee. Is it the whip-tom-kelly note which Soane and Wilson gave to the red-eye, but which Nuttall says he never heard from it? Some- times ter-phee-e. ‘This is repeated at considerable inter- vals, the bird sitting quite still a long time. I saw it dart out once, catch an insect, and return to its perch mus- cicapa-like.! As near as I could see it had a white throat, was whitish, streaked with dark, beneath, darker tail and wings, and maybe olivaceous shoulders; bright- yellow within bill. Andromeda calyculata begins to leaf — separate twigs from blossoming ones. Andromeda Polzfolia just open. Buck-bean, apparently in three days (in house the 18th). The 13th, saw large water-bugs (Gyrinus) crawled up high on rocks. Watch a pine warbler on a pitch pine, slowly and faithfully searching it creeper-like. It encounters a black and white creeper on the same tree; they fly at each other, and the latter leaves, apparently driven off by the first. This warbler shuts its bill each time to produce its peculiar note. Rhodora will apparently open in two or three days. See and hear for a moment a small warbler-like bird in Ne- mopanthes Swamp which sings somewhat like tchut a~-worveter-worreter-worreter-woo. The greater part of the large sugar maples on the Common leaf. Large red maples generally are late to leaf. Minott says that some years ago, maybe ten or fifteen, a man in Bedford climbed to an owl’s nest (probably a cat owl’s), and the owl took out one of his eyes and nearly killed him. He read it in the papers.

P. M. — Up Assabet. Trees generally leafing. Black willow leafs. Bass leaf is an inch over; probably began about the 14th. Panicled andromeda leafed in some places, probably a day or two. Grape buds begin to open. Swamp white oak leaf, probably yesterday. Silky cornel leaf, two days or three. A woodcock, near river. A blue heron-like bird on a tree over river, but with uniformly fawn-colored throat and breast and red feet. We hear these last two or three warm days the loud sound of toads borne on or amid: the rippling wind. A green bittern with its dark-green coat and crest, sitting watchful, goes off with a limping peetweet flight.

Waked up at 2.30 by the peep of robins, which were aroused by a fire at the pail-factory about two miles west. I hear that the air was full of birds singing thereabouts. It rained gently at the same time, though not steadily.

P. M. — Boat to Nut Meadow. Large devil’s-needle. Sassafras well open. How long? Celtis will probably shed pollen to-morrow; shoots already an inch long. Sorrel pollen. First veery strain. Green-briar leafed several days. Veronica serpyjlli- folia well out (how long?) at Ash Bank Spring. Saw the yellow-legs feeding on shore.’ Legs not bright-yellow. Goes off with the usual whistle; also utters a long monotonous call as it were [szc] standing on the shore, not so whistling. Am inclined to think it the lesser yellow-legs (though I think the only one we see). Yet its bill appears quite two inches long. Is it curved up? Observed a blackbird’s (red-wing’s) nest finished.? At Clamshell a bay-wing sparrow’s nest, four eggs (young half hatched) — some black-spotted, others not.* These last warmer days a great many fishes dart away from close to the shore, where they seem to lie now more than ever. I see some darting about and rippling the water there with large back fins out, either pouts or suckers (not pickerel certainly). Apparently their breeding-season arrived. Is not this where the fish - hawks get them? Rhodora; probably some yesterday. | Black scrub oak pollen. Fir balsam pollen; say begins to leaf at same time. The clump of golden willows | west of new stone bridge is very handsome now seen from hill, with its light-yellowish foliage, because the stems of the trees are seen through it.

Put my little turtles into the river. They had not noticeably increased in size,—or hardly. Three had died within a week for want of attention, — two mud turtles and one musk turtle. Two were missing, — one mud and one musk. Five musk were put into the river.

Rains a little.