320 Difference in Ponds. 



A woodcock may occasionalh' be flushed from 

 such a ditch in winter. Woodcocks are fond of 

 those ditches down which there always trickles a tiny 

 thread of water — hardly so much as would be 

 understood by the term streamlet — coming from a 

 little spring which even in severe frosts is never 

 frozen. Even when the running brook is frozen 

 such little springs are free of ice, and so, too, is the 

 streamlet for some distance. 



From the bed of the brook proper the reeds are 

 gone — they have taken refuge in nooks and corners. 

 This is probably accounted for by the periodical 

 cleaning out of the brook — not annually, but every 

 now and then, in order to prevent the flooding which 

 would be caused by the accumulation of mud and 

 sand. The roots of the flags seem to withstand this 

 rude treatment ; but many other water plants cannot, 

 and are consequently only found in places which 

 have not been disturbed for many years. 



There is as much difi'erence in ponds as in hedges, 

 so far as inhabitants are concerned. Many fields 

 and hedges seem comparatively deserted, while 

 others are full of birds ; and so of several ponds 

 which do not apparentl}" vary much — one is a favor- 

 ite haunt of fish, and another has not got a single 

 fisli in it. One pond particularly^ used to attract my 

 attention, because it seemed devoid of any kind of 

 life : not even a stickleback could be found in it, 

 though they will live in the smallest ditches, and 

 this pond was fed by a brook in which there were 

 fish. Not even a newt lived in it — it was a minia- 

 ture Dead Sea. Another pond was remarkable for 

 innumerable water snails. When the wind blew 



