Clangula clangula americana . 
|Lake Umbagog, Maine. 
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! 1397 Watrous spent the forenoon along the eastern shores of 
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May 24. the channel between Great Island and the Tidswell place and 
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among the islands 3.E. of the Narrows. He found a Whistler's 
and a Black Duck's nest and took me to them in the afternoon. 
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The 7/histler's nest was in an old maple stub near the landing 
to the Tidswell place. Charlie Tidswell, my cook, tells me 
that a Duck of some species nested in this stub every year 
when he lived on this farm 12 or 15 years ago. 
The entrance to the Whistler's nest was a vertical slit 
apparently formed by the elongation (and to some extent widen¬ 
ing) through decay of a Flicker's hole. It did not look as 
if a Duck of any kind could possibly squeeze into it (the 
edges were jagged in places) but two large tufts of down 
clinging to the trunk a few inches from the hole assured 
Watrous that there was an occupied nest although he could 
start nothing by rapping on the trunk this morning; nor did a 
most vigorous hammering with oar and paddle hilts when we 
reached the tree this afternoon produce any signs of life a- 
bove. But when Watrous began to climb the stub-indeed irame- 
diately after the first stab of his climbing irons-a female 
Whistler emerged from the hole and flying rather feebly and 
clumsily at first with legs and feet hanging down, made off 
over the Lake calling kur-ruck , kur-ruck, kur-ruck in deejj, 
