Caldicott Wilson - on - Cambridge Davidson 283 MASS. (Middlesex Co.) 1876. Saturday April 1 Clear with high W. wind. Off after breakfast starting out in my buggy for a try at hawks etc. Near fresh pr. saw a crow coming very high up and getting out the sun shot at him as he was directly overhead and dropping him into the road. Next drove up over the hill, stopping to let every quail loose at the spot where I shot her last fall. The male died about a week back & the ? was getting so thin that I feared she would then the same fate unless released. The wings healed up within two weeks of their capture so that they could fly but subsequent futile flutterings about the box in which they were confined opened the wounds afresh and so inflamed the members that they lost the power of flight & wasted away under the influence of the constantly festering wounds. Driving through Prospect St. I shot into a flock of cedar birds killing two plain birds: one of them was however interesting from the fact that the yellow tipping of the tail feathers was entirely gone - I saw gone because the frayed ends of the feathers showed the action of wearing wear. Soon I heard the first Hay-bodies of the season singing clearly. Driving up through the willows I came home by way of the Warren place, Hathham, firing at a crow which sat on the road within good range & which I unaccountably missed or only needed in wounding. Saw a fun for sparrows. A snipe was started by Davidson on the E. edge of the house SE brickyard lawn pr. The frost is all out & the fields getting green in many exposures