June 26, 1891
England.
(no 8)
Chester - their nests. Some of them saw us and
sheered off as suddenly as if shot at. One came
to its nest repeatedly but although it bore a fish
in its bill it alighted only once and then im-
mediately flew again before feeding the young.
  Upon entering these woods I found that they
were intersected in every direction by a cut-work
of ditches filled with stagnant and nearly black
water and bordered with tall grass and rushes
of strange (to me) appearance. The ground between
these ditches was hard but covered with pools of
shallow water from the recent heavy rains and everywhere
concealed by a rank growth of blackberry bushes
and tall nettles.
  The most abundant song birds were Willow Warblers
and Throstles. There seemed to be one of each for
every three or four trees and their songs made a
perfect medley like that to be heard in a bird store,
a continuous volume of sound. The Willow Warbler
is by far the best singer I have yet heard. Its
song bears a marked resemblance to that of our
Tree Sparrow having the same wild, sweet ring
but it is more varied and finer in every way.
It ends with a "dying fall". Newstead does not
rate it high and says that few people know
the bird at all. We heard it everywhere to-day
but most numerously in the woods.
  As we were watching the Herons a Turtle Dove
cooed repeatedly near us. Its coo is very low
and slight a rolling or tremulous hoo-oo-oo-oo
all on the same key. A cock Pheasant