JOUUNAI, OF nilK Wlin BIRD INVFSTIG.\Tin\ SOCIIlTY. 



33 



obser\-er, il' ikiI rin uiilraincd one. For there 

 are two classes of isolated waters in wliich 

 practicallv no species of water plants usually 

 carried bv birds are found : (a) I'onds which 

 are overstocked with wild-fowl or domestic 

 ducks, such as decoy waters ami homestead 

 ponds near farm yards. These invariably 

 leave such notes in mv diarv as " too 

 mallardy " or "too domestic-durky," as the 

 case mav be. (b) There are also, and this is 

 the reallv important case, isolated ponds, 

 which for some reason are never visited bv 

 ^lallards or Water-Hens ! \\'hy this is so 

 I have quite failed to discover after the most 

 prolonged anal\sis. Such jionds are not 

 confined to an\- soil, but are found in varvinq' 

 situations, fairlv near to homesteads and 

 awa\- from them in more distant pastures. 



Within half-a-mile of the table on which I 

 write these lines is a pond I have watched for 

 28 seasons. During that period, so far as I 

 can judge, it has never been visited bv birds 

 of anv species. I have never seen one or 

 tlieir tracks on the soil round it or in the mud 

 below its surface. No water plants have I 

 ever been able to detect within its area, except 

 Agrostis alba, which is too often mammal 

 carried to be of the least value in this case. 

 \'et in two ponds just over the fence in the 

 next pasture there is the usual supply of 

 species found in rarely visilcd ponds. 



There is another field pond of the same 

 uninviting kind two and a half miles away, 

 but in this parish. Its record, bar Agrostis 

 alba, was the same, until I detected the Blac!<- 

 headed Gull \isiting it in igoo. 



As thev mav be useful to future workers, 

 here are the field notes from these jionds for 

 season 19 17. 



" Pond Xo. 3(j (on parish list map). !n 

 little pasture, S. of Edlington House build- 

 ings. Soil, Sandy Glacial — Gravel. Never 

 bird-visited to my knowledge in 26 years, 

 no traces of wild ducks or water-hens at auA- 

 lime, (i) Agrnstis alba onlv. 25 v. 1917." 



" I'onds Xo. ,^7 and v'"'- In next lower 

 pasture. Same soil. \'ery rarelv visited bv 

 fowl, no trace of ducks or water-hens now, 

 hut I have seen marks of them at rare times. 



(1) Agrostis palustris, (2) Ranunculus 

 rcpens, (3) Glyccria jliiilans, (4) Juncus 

 glaucus, (5) Carcx hirta. 25 v. 191 7." With 

 this note added. " All these species are at 

 time-i carried on the muddv or wet feel of 

 cattle, but this pond is rarelv visited I know . " 



" Pond Xo. 93. On Kimeridge — C"la\' in 

 pasture S. of Iirandr-Carr House farm build- 

 ings. L'nvisiled apparently by birds fnr ci 

 vears, that is, ujj to season 1900, so only 

 Agrostis alba in it earlier. Since then, fre- 

 quented bv Black-headed Gulls. A voung 

 and not breeding bird of igi6 hatching was 

 on il as I approached it to-day. Yerv rarelv 

 it has been visited of late by domestic ducks 

 and geese, but thev have too manv ponds 

 nearer at hand to come this distance, excei:)t 

 rarelv. (i) Lcmna minor, (2) Epilobiiim 

 hirsiitum , (3) Glvccria Ihiilans, (4) Ranu)!t- 

 culus repcns, (=,) Cardajuinc pratcnsis, (6) 

 ]'cr(iuica bcccabuugn, (7) Juncus glaucus. 

 (S) Dcschampsia ciK'spilosa, (9) Mvosotis 

 palustris. The banding round this pond was 

 characteristic of its ilora. Rv the water 3. 

 abox'e that 2, abov'e that again S. 5 \-i. i()i7." 

 These notes are direct from m)' diary, made 

 on the spot each season, to learn (1) the his- 

 torv of the changes in man-made ponds, a!ul 



(2) the merms of seed carriage. Thev have 

 no axe to grind, anv more than their recorder 

 has; he onl\- wants to get at all the facts he 

 can learn bv analvsis. .All the same, the\- 

 clearly demonstrate that un\isited ]M)nds do 

 not contain ihe water plants of my biril- 

 carriecl list. On the other hand all visited 

 and frequent ponds do contain more or less 

 ot them is m\' imi\crsal e\|)i'rience. 



in i<SS<) I si)eni weeks in studving the 

 natiH'al historv of the, at that time, untouched 

 wide area of Salisburv I'lain. One of ils 

 most isolated dew-p(mds was x'isited b\- wild 



