Penobscot Bay, Maine.
1896
July 15
(No 5)
  It may be as well to record in this connection what happened
to my two Loon's eggs. On taking them I thought I could
feel the young moving within. When we reached the boat &
unpacked them both young birds were peeping loudly. One
died during the night but by the next morning the other
had chipped a hole as big as a silver ten cent piece near
the larger end of the egg. He made no further progress during 
the day but kept up an incessant calling. On the second 
morning he was silent & at first I thought him dead but
detecting a slight movement of his head I opened his bill &
breathed into it a number of times. This revived him
and after he had been put in a warm place behind 
the cooking stove at the Emersons' for half-an-hour he was
as lively as ever. I then drilled a row of holes around
the eggs and prying off the larger end pulled out the young
bird and put him in a basket by the fire. His downy
plumage soon dried and within an hour he would
swallow with every appearance of satisfaction small flakes
of fresh fish macerated in water. I fed him at short
intervals through the day & he seemed to gain strength
& bulk rapidly. He also learned to open his bill when food
was offered him. On the third morning he was still bigger
& stronger & his appetite was much improved. At 4 P.M. of that
day I started from Green's Landing for Boston. As soon as 
I got my Loon aboard the boat he began to languish and
when we reached Rockland at 6 P.M. he was gasping
for breath. He was just alive when I went to bed & dead
& stiff in the morning. Whether the motion of the steamer
distressed him or whether he got chilled by the cool sea breeze
I was unable to make out. I was glad to add his beautiful
skin to my collection but his death was nevertheless a