Surveying J. B . Moore's farm.

April 19.

Hear the field sparrow sing on his dry upland, it being a warm day, and see the small blue butterfly hovering over the dry leaves.

Toward night, hear a partridge drum. You will hear at first a single beat or two far apart and have time to say, "There is a partridge," so distinct and deliberate is it often, before it becomes a rapid roll.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, April 19, 1860

Hear the field sparrow sing on his dry upland, it being a warm day. See April 22, 1859 ("When setting the pines at Walden the last three days, I was sung to by the field sparrow. . . .That the music the pines were set to, and I have no doubt they will build many a nest under their shelter.. . . They commonly place their nests here under the shelter of a little pine in the field. ");April 27, 1852 ("Heard the field or rush sparrow this morning (Fringilla juncorum), George Minott's "huckleberry-bird." It sits on a birch and sings at short intervals, . . .sounding like phe, phe, phe, pher-pher-tw-tw-tw-t-t-t-t, — the first three slow and loud, the next two syllables quicker, and the last part quicker and quicker, becoming a clear, sonorous trill or rattle, like a spoon in a saucer"). See also A Book of Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Field Sparrow

See the small blue butterfly hovering over the dry leaves. See April 24, 1855("That fine slaty-blue butterfly, bigger than the small red, in wood-paths.”); April 28, 1856 (“A fine little blue-slate butterfly fluttered over the chain. Even its feeble strength was required to fetch the year about. How daring, even rash, Nature appears, who sends out butterflies so early!”); April 30, 1859 ("That interesting small blue butterfly (size of small red) is apparently just out, fluttering over the warm dry oak leaves within the wood in the sun"); May 4, 1858 (“See a little blue butterfly (or moth) — saw one yesterday — fluttering about over the dry brown leaves in a warm place by the swamp-side, making a pleasant contrast. ”)


Toward night, hear a partridge drum, so distinct and deliberate before it becomes a rapid roll. See April 19, 1855 ("A partridge drums.").  April 25, 1854 (" The first partridge drums in one or two places, as if the earth's pulse now beat audibly with the increased flow of life. It slightly flutters all Nature and makes her heart palpitate."); April 29, 1857 (" A partridge there drums incessantly. C. says it makes his heart beat with it, or he feels it in his breast")  See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau The Partridge.