Up the lake for duck-nets 345 June 3 Saturday 1876 MAINE, (L. Umbagog) 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 steam taking as guide one of the gang of river drivers that had been careful at 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 on itself into the flooded forest of firs near Leonard's pond, and commenced a march for nuts in general but ducks in particular. We hunted a long time in vain hammering on every stub that presented a likely looking hole; then and avoided the chief obstacle to access was the very abundance of opportunities for nearly every hole was more or less widdled with holes by greater part of them woodpeckers' 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 ran enough at the first look of the one on the resonant struck a lively scratching commenced inside the next moment a ducks head appeared in the hole then with a struggle her claws stopped over the lowe edge and she larnched into the air. I was both startled and surprised at the work though simply to be effected right but recovering myself.