1891.
June 20
England.
Irish Channel - Irish Channel - Liverpool.
Cloudless but with a dense [deleted]fog[/deleted] haze or thin fog
which obscured everything more than a few
hundred yards away. Very warm.
Forenoon spent running up the Irish Channel.
No breeze, no swell, no birds except a few
Herring Gulls following the steamer and collecting
quickly over her wake when food was thrown
overboard.
  Crossed the bar at the mouth of the Mersey
at 1 P.M. and reached Liverpool two hours later.
Gulls seen in increasing numbers all the way
up the river, very tame flying low over the
tugs and even entering the narrowest docks.
Near the landing they were about as numerous
as in Boston Harbor in winter from ten to
thirty or forty being constantly in sight.
I recognized four species, the Herring,
Lesser Black-back, Little Black head and
Mew Gull. The Little Black-heads outnumbered
all the others combined, in fact were by far
the most abundant & characteristic as well
as beautiful and familiar species. Of the 
Lesser Black backs & Mew Gulls I saw only
three or four each.
  The first & only land bird thus far seen is
the House Sparrow. There were two males in
the Custom House chattering & squawking among
the rafters. Their notes were shriller than those of our bird /