As we passed the almshouse brook this pleasant winter afternoon, at 2.30 P.M. (perhaps 20º, for it was 10º when I got home at 4.45), I saw vapor curling along over the open part by the roadside . . .

  Saw four snow buntings by the railroad causeway, just this side the cut, quite tame. They arose and alighted on the rail fence as we went by. Melvin speaks of seeing flocks of them on the river meadows in the fall, when they are of a different color . . .

  When a locomotive came in, just before the sun set, I saw a small cloud blown away from it which was a very rare but distinct violet purple . . .