BY THE WAYSIDE. 
19 
I 
< 
Laurel Ave. School, Chicago, Grade 2. 
A Riddle. 
I am not a song bird. I build my nest in a 
hole in the tree. I have a short bill. My tail 
is short. My breast is white. My back is 
black and white. My head is red. My tail 
is black. I eat insects. I like insects. What 
is my name? Ross Dalbey. 
%i 
Kewaunee. 
Dear Wayside: —Once I was playing in the 
garden when I saw an old robin try to teach 
her young one to bathe. There was a dish of 
water in the garden for the birds. The little 
one stood on the edge and watched his mother 
go in and splash and scatter the water. He 
fluttered his wings and was eager to try it for 
himself, but lie was afraid to plunge in. 
At last the mother flew away and left him 
standing there, but in a moment she came 
back with a worm in her mouth. The young 
robin was hungry, as young birds always are, 
and when he saw the worm he began to flutter 
his wings and cry for it, but his mother jump¬ 
ed in the middle of the dish and stood there 
holding the worm in his sight. The youngster 
{ wanted the worm so much then he forgot his 
fears of the water and hopped right beside her. 
She fed him and then began to splash about 
and he liked it so well that he stayed and took 
a good bath. Alvena Sazama, age 11. 
Dear Wayside: —I have been more interest¬ 
ed in the Robin than in any other bird. One 
time my little brother had some horse-hair 
sticking out of his pocket and while he was 
walking along a Robin red-breast flew down 
from the tree, grabbed the hair and sailed 
away with it to its nest in a tree nearby. 
Oshkosh. Rosa Hanson, age 13. 
This is one of a series of impersonations 
given in the Audubon Society of Miss Gow- 
rail’s room, Seventh District School, Milwau¬ 
kee : 
What am I, 
Do you know my name? Well, you must 
guess, for I will not tell you. 
I am a rather large bird, my length being 
about 10 to 12 inches. I have a beautiful pur¬ 
ple-feathered crest and back. My tail feathers 
j are of a light blue color spotted with black 
•and tipped with white. My breast is covered 
with a soft gray down, and I have a black 
necklace about my neck. My bill and legs are 
black. I am a strong bird and I am not afraid 
of other birds. I am a bird that stays with 
you nearly all the year. Some people who do 
not know anything about me think I am 
cruel because I kill other birds, but I can as¬ 
sure you that it is in my nature and I am not 
nearly so bad as some other birds whose names 
I cannot recollect. 
I have a wild cry which I make to scare 
other birds, but I also have a beautiful song 
which I sing to my wife while she is on the 
nest. 
We usually build our nest half way up a 
tree, out on a branch; we are not afraid of 
birds, so why should we not enjoy the sun¬ 
shine? Some people do not care about our 
nests because they say they are so clumsy and 
rude, but the truth is, we have to make them 
so large that we do not have time to be so 
very particular. 
When our little baby birds are born, my time 
is entirely taken up feeding them. When they 
are still quite young we teach them to fly so 
that we can rest and have a gay time before 
they leave us and winter comes on. 
We live most any place where we can find a 
nice home, although I like the country much 
better than the city. 
I have just finished my morning paper and 
I found this written about me. See if you 
think it tells the truth : 
‘‘Something glorious, something gay, 
Flits and flashes this-a-way! 
’Thwart the hemlock’s dusky shade, 
Rich in color full displayed, 
Swiftly vivid as a flame— 
Blue as heaven and white as snow— 
Doth this lovely creature go. 
What may be his dainty name? 
‘Only this’—the people say— 
‘Saucy, chattering, scolding Jay.’ ” 
Elsie Gillette. 
Cedarburg. 
Dear Mrs. Peckiiam:—A pair of bluejays 
built a nest in one of the tall trees near our 
house. I watched these birds during my leisure 
hours and think they were the sauciest little 
creatures I ever saw. They reared a brood 
of two. 
These young jays quarreled among them¬ 
selves almost constantly. The weaker bluejav 
when defeated, would scream so hard that it 
scared me. 
Que morning I heard a loud noise in our 
