1891. 
July 4
(No 5)
England.
Wells. - is perhaps 200 ft. long by 30 to 50 ft. wide.
Except in the springs the water is not over 2 to 4 
ft. deep.
  It contains at present two Mute Swans, eight or
ten tame (?) Ducks nearly or quite black in color and
of peculiar appearance, two adult [male] Pochards (with 
clipped wings) and a pair of Gallinules. I saw
no fish although I looked for them closely.
  The Gallinules find shelter under and among some
bushes which appear to be rooted in the bank above
the wall but which have their drooping tops and
branches in the water forming a belt impervious
to the eye extending about 150 feet in length
along the western shore.
  My first visit to this delightful place was
brief but after lunch I returned and spent three
hours (5 to 8 P.M.) wandering about and watching
the many interesting birds. I have seen nothing
like the number and variety in one spot before;
it was quite equal (at least in point of number)
to what one finds in some sheltered nook in
America at migration time. Yet these birds were
of course all summer residents, many of them
feeding broods of young just from the nests.
  The trees and bushes were fairly swarming with 
them. There was not much singing (the season is
too far advanced, evidently) but the air was
continually filled with chirps, calls and scolding
notes many of which were quite new to me.
Indeed much of the time I was in a state of
hopeless if delightful bewilderment. With the aid of