June 26, 1891
England.
(no 5)
Chester - There were two Mute Swans (tame birds of
course) in this pond, one of them accompanied by a 
cygnet only a few days old. No other water-fowl
seen but a Bold Coat [?] heard. It uttered a single
loud note which I should have taken for the
shout of a boy had not Mr. Newstead been with me.
  Leaving the pond we took a cart path which
wound through a dense, natural thicket of alders
some of which were old trees 12 to 15 inches in
diameter and 30 to 35 ft. high and came out into
a long, broad meadow bounded on one side by a 
straggling row of trees and bushes which marked
the shores of the Serpentine, as the pond just
described ins named, on the other by a swampy
piece of woods, chiefly English oaks and ash trees
intermixed with white willows, which formed
a long, straight wall of solid foliage of a lighter
green than that of the parks. The grass in the
meadow was knee high (it is seldom higher in
English mowing fields) and plentifully intermixed
with buttercups, white-weed and purple
save for the presence of the last-named plant
and a glympse of the Hall through the trees behind
I might easily have fancied myself in one
of our Massachusetts meadows. Indeed I caught
myself listening for Bobolinks more than once
The place would have suited them perfectly.
  As we were crossing this field picking our
way carefully for there were concealed pools
of water among the grass a female Mallard
came flying overhead and circling with loud