COUCORD 
1892 
July 6 
• 
^Spent most of the day at my boat-house making 
some changes in the fittings of a canoe and, during the 
Flicker's 
nest 
latter part of the afternoon, watching the Flicker's nest. 
The bird was shy and suspicious at first but soon became 
sufficiently accustomed to my presence to feed her young 
in the stump while I was sitting in my canoe within ten 
feet of the base of the tree and not over fifteen feet from 
the nest. I should add, however, that I was partially shel¬ 
tered by my canoe tent under which I sat, raising one side 
just enough to peep out. When I took down the tent and sat 
wholly exposed to the bird's own view she would not feed 
her young although she several times worked her way timidly 
to the stump end then fled in a panic. I shall reserve my 
notes on the feeding of the young until I see it again to- 
about 
morrow for there are one or two points/which I am not quite 
clear. 
There were four half-grown Musk-rats in my boat- 
Musk-rats 
in my 
boat-house 
• 
house to-day and on crawling into the back part I distinctly 
saw the old female "sitting" on her new nest where I left her 
undisturbed. An hour or two later I heard one of her young 
calling feebly and incessantly as if hungry. 
Birds have sung freely about an hour and at the 
river all day. I have heard all the common species which 
haunt the neighborhood except the Bobolink, which seems to 
have stopped singing within a day or two. Hay cutting has 
