page [2] 17 Mar 1901 (seq. 3)

2
Waverley, Mass.
1901
Mar. 17

This morning (Sunday) was clear and cool
and I took the electrics to Waverley and spent
two hours and a half walking over the
Reservation. It was my first outing, I
was up the tracks of the Massachusetts
Central R.R. and came upon a flock of
about twelve Tree Sparrows in the leafless
bushes along Beaver Brook by the wooden bridge
that spans it. The birds were singing very
beautifully and I listened to them for
some time with much pleasure. As I
[right margin: A Sharp-skinned
Hawk attacks
Tree Sparrows]
was standing on the bridge watching the Sparrows
and intent upon their song, suddenly an
object flashed over me from behind and
dropped, lightening like in speed, plunging into
the midst of the bushes where the birds
were. I could not at first realize that it
was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. It dove so
hard into the bushes that it struck the
water with great splash. Immediately fol-
lowing this, there was dead silence among
the birds. After waiting some minutes, without
seeing the Hawk appear I walked over up the
side of the brook a few rods and started
it up. It flew skulking through the bushes
out of sight. From the fact that it was
quiet so long, it probably had caught its bird

I saw two Song Sparrows, one in full song
Crows, Chickadees and heard the cries of a
Red-shouldered Hawk —