BY THE WAYSIDE. 
11 
upon the mind. The bird that Blanche Taylor 
describes is almost certainly a sapsuc-ker. 
A letter by Leo Egelberg, La Crosse, and a 
poem by Ben Peterson, Union Grove, written 
for The Wayside, are republished in The Arbor 
and Bird Day Annual for 1903. 
Dear Children :—The time has at last come 
when there is a great deal going on among our 
bird friends. Now we must keep our eyes open 
and see how many new friends we can make 
and how much we can find out about each one. 
When we see a bird that seems new, what is 
the first thing we must do? Find out what 
his name is. l’es, that is it, then we must 
find out whether he has come to stay with us 
all summer or whether he is going on farther 
o o 
north to build his nest. If he rs going to 
make his home here, then we must watch him 
very carefully to see where his little home is 
going to be placed. We do not need any books 
to tell us this—if we are patient and quiet 
and sit down somewhere near him, behind a 
bush or tree, we can soon find out what the 
little fellow is up to and whether his nest is 
to be up in a tree, on the ground or in a little 
bush. 
If we scatter pieces of string, rags, horse 
hair and straw about the yard we will find 
them disappearing in a very remarkable man¬ 
ner, but if we should make a careful search, a 
little later, through all the neighboring trees, 
we should find all these little odd bits doing 
good service in the homes of our feathered 
friends. 
I know there are many of our Wayside 
readers who know all about this, but I know, 
too, that there are many new friends of the 
birds who will be interested and we want 
them to just keep their eyes and ears open dur¬ 
ing these months of sunshine and see what very 
wise, intelligent little beings are working and 
playing and singing all about us, and how very 
glad they are to make friends with little 
boys and girls who will treat them kindly. 
Helen R. Scudder. 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
North Alton. 
Dear Wayside: —The House Wren is a little 
bird much smaller than the Robin and has 
not as gay a dress. They are funny birds and 
they creep into cracks and crevices searching 
for food. They have tiny nests made of grass, 
string, and other materials. The eggs are 
spotted with pink dots and there are generally 
three or four eggs in each laying. 
The Wrens build in our area and I watch 
as they fiy in and out. I called one of them 
Billy and the other Jenny. Since that time 
I read a story about Billy and Jenny Wren and 
it seems so funny I should choose the same 
names as those in the book and having not 
read it before hand. Billy Wren would sing 
and try to cheer Jenny when she was nesting. 
I could go very near to Billy when he stopped 
to rest on our grape arbor before he went to 
the nest. After nesting time is over they 
depart until another year. Every year they 
come and build in our area. (I suppose they 
are the same .birds.) When I see them com- 
' ing and hear them I put crumbs on the rock 
wall for them to get. 
A lady that lives near us hung a pair of 
rubber shoes on the back porch expecting to 
use them when necessary. A pair of wrens 
came and built in them and the lady thought it 
so funny she never stopped to take the rubbers 
down any more but left them there for the 
birds to build in them. Every year they come 
and build there. 
They come in April and stay and nest until 
October when they depart to warmer countries. 
They appear to be saucy birds and they will 
be scolding and then break out in a beautiful 
song and they become so happy and pleased 
with their singing they forget all things around 
them and sing till their little bodies tremble. 
I guess it is natural for me to like the 
birds because my mother did. She used to 
put cans up for them to build in when she was 
a little girl. I guess everybody must like the 
wrens because on our little Audubon buttons 
there is a wren. 
I hope after a while all boys and girls will 
learn to love the birds and treat them well, 
because they are God’s creatures just as much 
as we are and they need to be protected just 
as much as we do, and more so, too. 
I think when bad boys try to shoot the 
birds (I guess girls wouldn’t do anything like 
that), if they would just say, “now if I were 
