ful wild flowers. It is a very cold road 
to walk in Winter, for the wind blows 
terribly and the snow drifts. It is very 
pleasant to go to school now. for the birds 
are singing gaily. My school is a few 
miles from the field where the Battle of 
Saratoga was fought. Margaret m. 
New York. 
First of all, when I leave our door. I 
walk right to the end of our sidewalk. 
Then I walk down a little hill, cross a 
bridge and go up a bigger hill. When I 
get on top of the hill I cut through our 
field and go through a gate in our or- 
iMabel lives near your Editor and has been 
to visit him. She is proud of her heifer. 
chard, where I get to the road. I walk 
straight on the road till I come to another 
big hill. Then I soon go down another 
hill till I see a house. Then I go in and 
call my friend, Edith. We both cross the 
road and cut through their orchard till 
we come to the trolley tracks. When the 
car comes we get on and give the con¬ 
ductor the ticket and we get a ride till 
we get up to the station. While on the 
car we go through lonely places, through 
woods, by the creek and by the road. 
When we get off at the station we fol¬ 
low the tracks down until we come to 
some steps. We go down those steps, 
cross an empty lot till we see the school- 
house. Then we cross the road, walk up 
some steps and walk on till we get to the 
door. Then we go through a hall into our 
cloak room, take off our hats and coats 
and get to our seats. We always get 
there in time for school when the second 
bell rings. maria d. 
Pennsylvania. 
A great many of you know that the 
March Nature Puzzle was 
The Naughty Cowbird 
Here is the list I promised of those 
who sent the right answer in time to 
print: 
New York State—Helen I).. Katharine 
T., Philip R., Richard P.. Rhea G.. Mar¬ 
ion H„ Helen P., Ruth S., Louise C.. 
Grace S., William E., George R.. Sarah 
S., Doris C., Dorothy L., Sarah Van A.. 
Elisabeth S., Jewel .T., Marie H., Fred 
B., Mary B., Irma R., Floyd M., Ger¬ 
trude W. 
Maine—Virgil T., Victor T., Lorene B., 
Laurence R., Marguerite S. 
Massachusetts—Dorothy R., Alice J.. 
Mary C. 
Connecticut—Fred P., Elizabeth N.. 
Harry A. 
Ohio—Henry P., Julianna F.. Marie T. 
New Jersey—Dorothy G., Esther C., 
Annie C. 
Pennsylvania—Morton A. 
Delaware—Ethel W. 
New Hampshire—Frances W. 
Michigan—Empress G. 
Missouri-—Joseph D. 
And here are a couple of letters about 
the cowbird : 
Mabel W. gives a very good descrip¬ 
tion of a cowbird, which I think is the 
answer. It seems to me that this cow¬ 
bird is an awful nuisance to other birds. 
Sly is the word, just like Mabel said. The 
other birds wonder how the egg got there. 
Perhaps they may try to push it out. but 
they usually leave it there. I was going 
to school one day and I saw a big nest. 
It was an awful deep nest, say between 
seven and eight inches. There were no 
occupants in it. I felt of the bottom, and 
it seemed kind of heavy. After thinking 
a moment I said to myself: “That’s a 
two-story nest. That’s what they’ll do 
if they can’t push an egg out; they’ll just 
go to work and build a nest right on top 
of it. leaving the cowbird’s egg in the old 
one below, where it won’t hatch.” 
Connecticut. fred p., 13 years. 
The bird that lays her egg in a smaller 
bird’s nest is the cowbird. She is too 
lazy to build a nest of her own, so she 
lays in some other bird’s nest. When 
the bird hatches out it eats all the food 
the mother bird brings for her own little 
birds, and sometimes pushes them out of 
the nest. The only bird that knows how 
to get rid of them is the yellow warbler. 
She will build a nest right on top of it 
when she finds a cowbird’s egg in her 
nest. One time she had a nest three 
stories high to cover the cowbird’s eggs. 
Pennsylvania. morton a., 10 years. 
Another Nature Puzzle 
In looking through The R. N.-Y. I 
found the Boys’ and Girls’ Page, which 
‘Pk RURAL NEW-YORKER 
J 653 i 
I always read. I am very sure that the 
bird described in the “What Is It?” is a 
cowbird. The Latin name is Molothrus 
atcr. I dislike this bird for its mean 
trick of making other birds take care of 
its young, and whenever I find a nest 
with one of these eggs in it I destroy the 
egg. 
I have thought of a puzzle for Our 
Page: 
wiiat is IT? 
This plant grows in West Virginia and 
that locality. You can find it iu the 
woods in May and early June. The plant 
is low and has large shiny leaves which 
taste very disagreeable, and which no bug 
or animal will touch to eat. The flower 
is dark brown in color, and has three 
petals which turn over at the top, form¬ 
ing a little brown cup. The flower comes 
from the main stem, and is usually hid¬ 
den under the leaves close to the ground. 
This flower is not easily seen unless you 
are looking for it. 
The flowers in the photograph at the 
top of the first column this month 
(March) look like the larger bloodroot, 
and the smaller Spring beauties. Both 
grow in a wild garden which we have. 
Also the plant just described in the “What 
Is It?” which we brought from Wheeling, 
W. Va. We also have a great many other 
rare plants in our wild garden which do 
not grow here. 
Now I must close, as I have to feed my 
Chickens. KATHARINE T. 
New York. 
Katharine writes a fine letter. I am 
sure she will not mind if I add a few 
words about the “What Is It?” because 
this is not as easy as those you have had 
the last few months, and you will have 
to work to find the answer. It is a plant 
that everyone should know. Katharine 
describes the Southern species, which 
grows from Virginia southward. But 
there is a Northern species that grows in 
A Cart Full 
rich woods from Maine to North Carolina 
and west to Kansas. It is very like the 
other except that the leaves are woolly 
instead of smooth, and the points on the 
flower cap are longer. (These are not 
petals; who knows what they are?) 
There are no other plants anywhere near 
like these. If you have ever seen them 
you are not likely to have forgotten. Who 
will send the name? And if someone 
could send a photograph, wouldn’t that 
be fine! 
Katharine is one of the few who named 
correctly both of the flowers shown on the 
March page. She knows a lot about wild 
flowers, and there is a reason why she 
does. Don’t you think the wild flower 
garden is an interesting idea? Why 
couldn’t more of us have one? Just one 
thing to remember about this, though: 
Be careful not to destroy rare species of 
flowers that are scarce in your neighbor¬ 
hood. 
John Burroughs 
Many of you know that on Sunday, 
April 3, John Burroughs, the naturalist 
and writer, was laid to rest near his 
former home in the Catskill Mountains. 
Just 84 years before that day he was born 
there. It is fitting that here on Our Page 
we should express the sorrow we feel at 
the loss of this true friend to all boys and 
girls, and to all lovers of Nature. Ilis 
was a life of simple, kindly friendship 
among his fellow men and his companions 
in the out-of-door world. Woods and 
fields, hills and valleys, rocks and streams, 
birds, insects, flowers, trees, wild plants 
and animals—he knew them all and told 
us much of their quaint and interesting 
ways. I feel sure that someone among 
our readers must have known John Bur¬ 
roughs personally, or met and heard him 
talk. It would be a pleasure to us all to 
know first hand something more about 
the man. 
This Month’s Pictures 
The lovely picture at the top of Our 
Page came with the following letter: 
My mother reads the Boys’ and Girls’ 
Page to me, and I like it very much. I 
am seven years old and go to school, but 
cannot read everything yet. 
My little sister and I put suet out on 
a tree near the house, and a little downy 
woodpecker came to eat it every day. 
We have good times in Summer, and 
Winter, too. I will send you a picture 
of us in the orchard last Spring. Per¬ 
haps I can get you a snow picture later. 
New York. jane t. 
It seemed to your editor that Jane’s 
picture fitted Ralph’s poem perfectly, 
especially the last line! Surely you coun¬ 
try boys and girls have a wonderful 
“show” all about you every hour of the 
day. Do you know it? Do you love it? 
“Jack and Jill’ was sent by a friend of 
ours, who did not give his name or ad¬ 
dress with it. You will have to guess 
what it all means. 
“In Mischief” is explained by this let¬ 
ter : 
We live on a 50-acre farm. I am the 
baby of the family. This is my little pet 
pig. Her name is Bessie. She is one 
month old. This picture was taken in 
the potato field. The name of the picture 
is “In Mischief.” saraii c. 
New York. 
The cat puzzle picture came from the 
little gii-l’s father, who runs a poultry 
farm in Southern New York. You will 
need sharp eyes for this. 
Mabel left the picture of her heifer and 
herself when she came to visit me. I 
wish every one of you boys and girls who 
read this could spend a day with me on 
this old farm. What a good time we 
would have! But never mind; we can 
write to each other, anyway. 
“A Cart Full” came from IJvelyii R.. 
a Maine girl. She asked to have the 
photograph returned, but she did not give 
her last name or address. So what could 
your editor do? 
The picture of Frances and Shop was 
sent by a Maryland lady. There is a 
story about it. This friend lost her own 
little girl with influenza, so she and her 
husband took Frances, who was an or¬ 
phan, to be their own child, and they are 
bringing her up in the happy, wholesome 
country life. Isn’t that a fine thing to 
do? 
“Sunday on the Farm” came from a 
Buffalo, New York, mother. Your editor 
knows just how these children feel, for at 
one time in his life as a boy he lived in a 
big city. Then it was his greatest joy to 
have his father take him and his brothers 
and sisters out into the country on Sunday 
afternoons in Springtime. We would go 
to the end of some trolley line and then 
walk. How happy we were with the 
freedom to run and shout and roll on the 
grass! Then there were wild flowers, 
too, violets and daisies and buttercups, 
and sometimes a few wild strawberries. 
But 1 have never forgotten how careful 
my father was to make sure that we took 
nothing to which anybody could object, 
that we did not trespass on another’s 
property. I wish all city boys and girls, 
and country girls, too, could learn this 
lesson well. There is too little thought 
of it sometimes. After all, it is just plain 
stealing, isn’t it, to take something which 
belongs to another person and which he 
values? Most folks love children and love 
to see them happy. Usually if you po¬ 
litely ask permission to go into a field or 
wood for wild flowers or berries it is 
readily given. Learn to consider the 
rights of others. It is a good habit. 
Notes 
The Box at the top of this month's 
page came from Louise F., a Pennsyl¬ 
vania girl. It is nearly a year since your 
editor has had to write a Box himself, 
and he is greatly pleased with your help 
Frances loves Shep. Does Sliep love 
Frances? 
with this. In a few words (not more 
than 25) express what you think Our 
Page should mean to us all. or give some 
special thought for the season. 
At least one girl spoke to her parents 
about the matter I explained to you last 
month, and she wrote: “My father and 
mother think your way of putting our 
names on Our Page is perfectly all right, 
he can write so much freer if we know 
our names are not going to be published 
in full.” 
Don’t forget to send your “Signs of 
Spring” lists by May 1. 
Are you keeping a scrap-book with all 
the copies of Our Page in it from the 
beginning? I hope so. 
How’s this? “I am a little boy 10 
years old, and I have been reading the 
Boys’ and Girls’ Page for the first time. 
My papa has taken The R. N.-Y. on 
trial, and I am going to ask him to sub¬ 
scribe for it longer.” 
When you read this it will be nearly 
May Day. Will you be hanging any May 
baskets this year, I wonder? It is a 
pretty custom. Anyway, don’t forget to 
send a May Day letter to your friend, 
Edward M. Tuttle, in care of The R. 
N.-Y., 333 West 30th Street, New York 
City. 
Sunday on the Farm 
