The Worthington advance., 1876-06-15

widest and most secluded spots. A
party of four, with the writer, under
took to rob one of these eyries. 1t
was the 30th of June, 1874, when we
found the nest which. from the ap-
pearance of the tree and the ground,
covered with the remains of many
royal feasts and the bones of several
detunct eagles, had evidently been
tnere for years. From the excitement
OF the parent birds we judged that the
young had not yet left the nest, and
the study was how to get at it. The
tree was long since dead, and the
trunk was very smooth, without limbs
for some distance, but by cutting a
smaller tree so that it fell against this
one, one of the party was enabled to
reach the rather treacherous looking
limbs and make his way to the nest,
when a new difficulty presented itself,
he could not look in. The only remedy
was to pull ont the bottom, which he
proceeded to do. After about ten
minutes hard work, the nest, the limbs
which supported it, and two young
birds, fully f1edged, came down with
a crash. The old birds made no efforts
to rescue their progeny, but scared
far above, uttering their harsh
screams. The young were quite diff
ferent in temperament. One, the lar.
Iger, was very savage and resented any
approach to familiarity, the other was
passive, Offering little resistance when
taken to the boat. We carried them
to camp and tied them to tree, but
during the night one managed to free
itself and the next morning was not to
be found though we searched every
nook and corner for some distance-it
having made good use of it's powers of
locomotion. The other, thou gh uot a
model Of amiability, would eat when
offered any fish, and, no doubt, would
have become quite tractable, but SUBJ
sequent history must be foregone, as
we left it at the place of debarkation
when our camping tour was over.
Strolling through the woods in any
direction one finds ruffed grouse in
great numbers. They are very tame,
and will allow one to approach quite
near before taking flight. The crow
is not common here, and very few
were seen on this excursion; neither
was their larger cousin, the raven, OBJ
served, although there is no doubt he
sometimes puts in appearance. Ihope
my non-ornithological readers will par.
don this disgression in favor of a hob
by.
A row of about two miles from
Cook s, to the head of small bay, will
bring one to a marsh at the foot of a
bluff passing through this marsh one
comes out upon another lake, or
(Goibel's Bay) as it is called. Here
can be seen the American representa-
tive (Nelumbium luteum) of that sym.
Dol of ease and bliss-the Lotus. Its
large pettate leaves and fragrant,
cream yellow blossoms, supported on
their upright stocks, attract the atten.
tion of all at once. Though it bears
an edible fruit, yet it is to be doubted
whether the eating of it would entire
ly overcome the desire for adventure
or travel without the aid of an enerv-
ating climate and tropical sun.
One realizes in such excursions that
pleasure, even in it's happiest vein,
must have it's drawbacks. In civiliza-
tion continued indulgence produces
ennui, but in nature, it brings health,
strength, and ambition, though it's fire.
quent associates, the mosquito, the
black fly, and leaky tent on rainy
day, take away the very essence of pa
tience from those who would enjoy a
woodland sojourn. The writer, with
a party of friends, attempted camping
out near the entrance from the lower
lake. We had rowed from Excelsior,
one afternoon, and pitched our camp
here, it being nearly dark when we ar.
rived, and would we could have treat
ed the mosquitoes as we did the camp!
Tar and oil were mama to them. They
came by thousands. We tried a
smudge fire, which forced us to re.
treat with our enemies. We endured
it for three nights, but on the fourth
we enjoyed comfortable rest in Min
neapolis. This was in June; later in
in the season this vast army returns to
the place from whence it came-the
land of shadows.
Looking for the Main Building