1891.  
July 13-16
(No 5)
England.
St. Ives. - wild and plaintive and reminding one
of the wail of a child or the shriek of wind
among cordage. The first two notes are exactly
like those of our American bird but I do not
remember to have heard the last before. The Herring
Gulls here also make a cry which our birds give
so much in winter and which resembles the creaking
of a rusty hinge. This is wholly distinct from the
wail.
  There are a few Cormorants about St. Ives but
no waders of any kind probably because the
beaches are too much frequented by people. On
some mud flats at St. Erth a few miles distant
I saw on the afternoon of the 14th a number
of small Curlew which I took for Whimbrels
and a pair of Totani probably Red-shanks.
  Chaffinches have been singularly inconspicuous
of late. I think I heard one sing in the glen
on the 14th and one is calling spink in the 
hedge in front of the house as I write these 
lines (16th July) but I have not seen half a
dozen in the past week.
  I have seen one Kestrel (July 14th) from my
window and one Wood Pigeon also (July 15) both
flying along the shore.
  The Jackdaws here are quite as tame & nearly
as numerous as the Gulls. They are to be seen
at all hours usually sitting on ridge poles or
chimney tops whence they descend to the yards
or even into the streets of the town to pick
up pieces of bread or other food. They are