1889. 
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<g - • r fc>L..- t \j4-*--^rv^~. 
Maine. _ / 
L. Umbagog. y 
Seen daily in September and in October up to the I7th. Me 
often heard them at night when it v/as perfectly dark flying over 
the lake uttering their loud horse cry. They do not, however, 
appear to see nearly as well after dark as in the day time, , 
on several occasions when we were lying in wait, for Ducks at Moose 
Point one of these birds would pass directly overhead within fif¬ 
teen or twenty yards, although we were not at all well concealed. 
During the day time their sight is far keener than that of any oth¬ 
er animal found in this region. Often v/hen I was creeping out to 
a flock of Black Ducks and when I fancied myself perfectly con¬ 
cealed I have had one of these Herons discover me and take wing 
when it seemed impossible that he could have either seen or heard 
me. They resort to the smallest ponds among the woods and are 
found along such narrow streams as the Cambridge Diver where the 
trees interlace their tops in many places over the water. The 
guides tell me that these Herons are easily approached at night 
by hunters who are"jacking* deer. They gaze at the light in stupid 
bewilderment and often allow the boat to approach so closely that 
they can be struck with a short paddle. They breed about the lake 
still, for a reliable man told me that he found a nest an which 
the bird was sitting only last spring. He thinks they no longer 
breed in colonies, but scattered nests are to be found all over 
the wooded region about the Lake often a mile or more from water. 
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