114
1897
June 4
(No 2)
Lake Umbagog.
Bottle Brook Pond.
  On reaching Bottle Brook Pond we first paddled around
it as silently as possible starting two [female] Whistlers from
the water & a third from the nest found on the 2nd.
This sitting bird came out to - day much more reluctantly
than on the first occasion not moving until Watrous
had rapped the stub hard a number of times. She
was also much less nimble about leaving the hole. In
fact she struggled a little before getting clear of it & I 
saw her first grasp its lower edge with her feet &
then spread her wings.
[margin]Nest of a
Whistler.[/margin]
  After taking three or four photographs of the pond from
the eastern shore (one of these should show the furrow
of a Musk rat which was swimming across the calm
surface at the time) we spent the remainder of the
day at the nest of the Banded Three-toed Woodpecker
taking six photographs, three from the water (with
poles six feet in length attached to the legs of the
tripod) and then from the land just within the
edge of the woods. Five of these pictures show the
[male] Woodpecker clinging to the trunk of the tree just
below the hole. He was in the nest when we first
reached it at about 9 A.M. and he remained near 
it the whole time up to 3 P.M. although he 
frequently flew off into the woods for a distance
of 50 to 100 yards and drummed for his mate but
always without bringing any response audible to our
ears.
[margin]Nest of
Picoides
americanus.[/margin]
  I have rarely seen a nesting bird so alert and keen
of hearing as this Picoides. The sound of our voices
or the slightest noise of the paddles would bring