Lake Umbagog.
1896
May 30
[May 30, 1896]

Pine Point.

  Early morning clear, calm, warm & in every way perfect. At 9 a.m.
a S.E. [southeast] breeze sprang up and through the remainder of the day
showers - some of them accompanied by thunder and heavy squalls
of wind from every quarter - came at frequent intervals.

Early morn. [morning] Watching Warblers
Winter Wrens

  I spent the early morning - ie from 5.30 to 8 a.m. - in the
Pine Point woods watching Bay-breasted [Bay-breasted Warbler] & Blackburnian Warblers
in the hope of tracing some of the females to their nests but
without success. For some unaccountable reason the Warblers generally
are not singing much but the Winter Wrens are at their best.
For nearly half an hour I had two singing within a few rods
of me, one on either side and one beginning just after the other
stopped. They simply flooded the woods with their rare music.
As I stood listening, thrilled by the wonderfully loud, clear notes
as they flowed on, now smoothly and rapidly, next halting or tripping
a little, I doubted if, after all, North America possesses a finer
little bird musician that the Winter Wren provided he be heard in
the depths of one of these northern forests when the air is perfectly
still & the distance not over twenty yards away. Certainly it
is the most satisfying song we hear.

Nest of Yellow-rump Warbler [Yellow-rumped Warbler].

  The Yellow rump's [Yellow-rumped Warbler] nest in the fork of the paper birch at
Osgood's camp-ground had surely doubled in size when I visited it
this morning. I watched it about ten minutes during which the
[female] came to it three times with building material. She remained
in the nest an unusually long time turning around & working with
her bill.

Least Flycatchers

  In the birch grove on this point at least two pairs of
Empidonax minimus are settled for the summer. I have not
found this species elsewhere about this end of the Lake.