Penobscot Bay, Maine.
1896
July 12
  One of the most perfect of midsummer days, cloudless, warm
but not in the least sultry or oppressive with, from early in
the morning to late into the night, a strong but almost perfectly
steady "whole-sail" breeze from the S.W.
  Tempted by the beautiful weather & fine sailing breeze I suggested
to Conary this morning that although it was Sunday I should
like to go to Trumpet Island to get the Sheldrake's nest which
we found and left with one fresh egg on June 30th. He assented with
great alacrity for he has been smarting ever since yesterday over our
loss of the Eiders' nests taken by Knight on Saddleback Ledge last
Thursday. We accordingly started at once and with a fair 
wind ran down to the island in but little more than an hour. As
we approached it and while we were still about ⅛ mile away
we saw a [female] Sheldrake fly out from the northern end where
our nest was situated and accordingly we felt sure of a good
set of eggs; but in this we were disappointed for our nest held
but the one egg which we had left twelve days ago and was
unmistakably deserted. It was at the end of a short tunnel
which extended into or rather under a dense mat of prostrate
beach grass of last season's growth. There was no down whatever in
this nest.
  The loss of this Sheldrake's nest was not one only piece of ill luck
for soon after landing we discovered two men walking about on
the hill top. One of them claimed to be the owner of the island
& said that he & his friend had come over to see about cutting
the grass but they both trampled it down ruthlessly as they
quartered the surface like trained dogs & we soon found that
they were really looking for Tern's nests which as fast as found
they relieved of their eggs. They had come in a dory which was