Trip up the lake for ducks nests
MAINE, (L. Umbagog. [Umbagog Lake, Maine])
1876.
Saturday
June 3 [Saturday June 3, 1876] Cloudy at sunrise clearing off at about 10 A. M.
clear and very hot in P.M. with the lake
as smooth as glass. Started off after breakfast
on the steamer taking as guide one of 
the gang of river drivers that have been 
camped near the house, a fine looking
intelligent man of about forty with a
physique worthy of Hercules. Took one
of Godwin's boats in tow and leaving the
steamer at Moose point we struck into
the flooded forest of stubs near Leonard's
pond, and commenced a search for nests
in general but duck's in particular. We
hunted a long time in vain, harnessing
on every stub that presented a likely looking
hole, [delete]The[/delete] and indeed the chief obstacle
to success was the very "abundance of
opportunities for nearly every tree was
more or less riddled with holes, the
greater part of them woodpecker's but
though many were new looking we 
could find no inhabited ones. Swallows
nests indeed were plentiful enough but
we did not stop to bother with any of
them. Finally we saw a hole that looked
very promising for a duck's nest and
sure enough at the first rap of the oar
on the resonant trunk a lively scratching
commenced inside, the next moment 
a duck's head appeared in the hole
then with a struggle her claws lapped
over the lower edge and she launched
into the air. I was both startled and
surprised at the novel though perfectly
to be expected sight but recovering myself