East Lexington, Mass.
1899.
May 6
  Forenoon cloudless; afternoon slightly cloudy or very hazy
Warmer with soft S.W. wind. Ther. [thermometer] 48 [degrees] - 6 A.M., 72 [degrees] - 1 P.M.
58 [degrees] - 8 P.M.
  Took the 8.34 A.M. train to East Lexington where I
met O. A. Lothrop and A. H. Hathaway by appointment.
They had brought their boat in a wagon and had launched
it in the flooded meadow where we were to spend the
forenoon looking for Greebe's [sic] [Grebe's] nests. Within fifteen minutes from
the time we left the shore we found two one with 7, the
other with 8 eggs. Both were in thickets of Sweet Gale, within
thirty yards of the railroad embankment, anchored securely
among the stems of the bushes but floating in clear water
about two feet deep. The set of seven was uncovered, three
of eight almost completely hidden by a thin layer of moss
& water plants which the bird had evidently drawn over
the eggs just before leaving them. Both nests were very
neat and compact and very buoyant also as I found by
pressing them down with my hand. The eggs lay in a
saucer-shaped depression the bottom of which was only
slightly (less than an inch) above the surface of the water.
The entire nest was looking wet & the materials fresh &
given sun on the very top where there was a thin layer
of light brown material that gave it the appearance of
floating meadow "trash". Each nest was almost perfectly
round and the covered one was slightly drum-shaped
but its top rose scarce two inches above the water
& it would not have attracted the attention of any
one who was unfamiliar with the Grebe's familiar
manner of nesting. Indeed I did not see either
nest until it was pointed out to me although I
[margin]Nesting of
Pied-bill Greebe[/margin]