103
Lake Umbagog.
Megalloway River
1897.
June 2
(No 2)
was in the nest. She made no sign when I thrust in
a long, slender rod but when we dug down to the nest from 
above and just as we broke through the roof of the chamber
she emerged from the entrance hole and flew off in silence.
I have applied the feminine pronoun to this bird but
as a matter of fact I was unable to get a sufficiently
good view of either of the pair to make out which was
the male and which the female.
[margin]Nest of 
Kingfisher[/margin]
  From here we kept straight on to Bottle Brook Pond
seeing only an Eagle, a Broad-winged Hawk & two or
three Blue Jays. The high, cold wind silenced the smaller
birds almost completely. It increased in violence until
at times we could scarce make headway against it.
Just above Bear Brook as we were approaching some
tall, dead elms, Watrous and Gilbert hugging the shore
and heading directly under the trees a sudden
gust tore a huge bird from one of them. As it
struck the water with tremendous force, sending the spray
high in air, we steered out into the middle of the
stream. But when we reached the pond and went to
work searching for nests we were obliged to enter the
stubs and take our chances. During the day several heavy
branches fell within a few yards of us and once a large 
tree came crashing down not far off but out of our sight.
[margin]Eagles
Broad w. Hawk
Blue Jays[/margin]
[margin]Violent
wind.[/margin]
  It was most difficult, too, to handle the boats. They
were frequently whirled quite around by some unexpected
gust. There was one compensation, however, in the absence  -
or comparative absence  -  of black flies and mosquitos
which are fast becoming numerous[.]