By M ill-Pond and Meadow. 



171 



growths of spatterdock and pickerel-weed. Be a 

 place ever so bird-full, there are hours and days 

 when it is quiet. I scarcely disturbed a sparrow 

 as I pushed on through the bushes and tall grass 

 and at last reached the creek not far from its mouth. 

 It is always a pleasant surprise, when walking 

 through gloomy woods or tall weeds that hem you 

 in as effectually as a tropical jungle, to suddenly 

 enter a wide open space. The world seemed very 

 small before, but not so now ; and what an outlook 



Herring Gull. 



was presented by the wide river's still unaltered 

 shores ! There was not a trace of man's work to 

 be seen from where I stood, not even the roof of a 

 barn ; and here many a strictly water-bird is likely 

 to be seen. The common herring gull is no stranger 

 here, — more than one hundred miles from the sea 

 by way of the river and half that distance overland. 

 After severe spring and autumn storms these birds 

 are common for a day or two in the meadows, and 

 if there is open water they are abundant about the 

 river all winter. The old miller spoke of changes 



