50 
BY THE WAYSIDE. 
Secretary’s Letter. 
My Dear Children —Those of you who have 
read the story of Hans Blinker will remember 
that Janzoon Ivolp was shut out of the race 
for the silver skates because he had killed a 
stork and robbed a bird’s nest. This was 
written long before the people of this country 
had begun to take an interest in saving the 
lives of birds, and shows that the Dutch are 
more developed than we are, in one way at 
least. Here is another stork story told by 
Lady Elizabeth Villiers, upon whose property, 
in Holland, the incident occured. 
On a tree close to the house, within a short 
distance of the river or canal, there was a 
stork’s nest, with young ones. The roof of the 
house caught fire one day; and though the 
flames did not actually reach the tree, the heat 
became scorching. So the mother stork flew 
down to the water, got into it, and drenched 
her breast; then, returning to her young, she 
spread the mass of cool wet feathers all over 
them. This she repeated over and over again, 
flying to the river, going down into the water, 
and returning, her plumage drenched with wet. 
And thus the nest was saved, and the tender 
nestlings were preserved alive until the fire had 
been got under and all was safe. The truth 
of this remarkable story was vouched for by 
more than one eye-witness. 
I hope you have all come back to school 
determined to keep track of what the birds are 
doing around your homes through the fall and 
winter months. Winter is the time to tame 
birds. When food is scarce they are grateful 
for suet, meal, crumbs and nuts, and for fresh 
water. In Mrs. Clas’s aviary the birds bathed 
every day, even in cold weather. 
Let us have some good letters about what 
the' birds are doing in October! 
Elizabeth G. Peckham. 
are not gone. The hawks are here and the 
quails are in our field. The chewinks are down 
by the river yet. All of these birds are very 
useful to us. The chickadee takes the pine 
and oak borers, and the robin takes grasshop¬ 
pers and other bugs too. Sometimes when 
other little birds get hurt the robin and the 
blue jay and the blackbird all come and help 
him as much as they can, but they can not help 
very much. 
DeWayne Adelbert Fisher, age 10 years. 
Necedah. 
Wisconsin Prize Letter. 
Dear Wayside. —One morning on my way to 
school I saw a flock of little wild canaries. 
They seemed to be very cold, as they were 
flying from bush to bush, and some were sitting 
on the ground. 
That evening going home I saw a large flock 
of jaybirds and also a flock of robins; the 
robins were singing very happy. I thought 
they were getting ready to go south, because 
they were so happy. 
I have seen a number of crows, hawks and 
chickadees lately. 
Today I saw a jay bird on a shock of corn, 
trying to get some corn to eat. He w r ould pick 
the husks and then pull at it, but he did not 
have the husk off when I left him. 
Hattie Davis, age 16. 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
Dear Wayside: — I saw a woodpecker build 
its nest in an apple tree. His head was red 
and his back was black. When I came close 
he flew away. The woodpecker picked a deep 
hole. 
Pauline Suhs, age 9 years. 
Tinley Park. 
Prize Paper==Birds in September. 
The Chickadee has come out of the thick 
woods now. The robins are in flock now and 
they are getting ready to go away. The blue¬ 
birds are coming back from the thick woods. 
The groundbirds are singing. Yesterday I saw 
two robins on a tree by our playhouse. The 
blue jays are flocking now, and singing songs 
to us. The blackbirds are going away. The 
whippoorwills are nearly all gone now. The 
mourning dove is here yet. The waterbirds 
Kewaunee, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: —Birds of passage are birds 
which are migrating, passing regularly with 
the seasons from one climate to another. Birds 
which breed in the United States and go South 
in the fall, returning to the North in spring, 
are called summer birds of passage; while the 
wild geese which breed in the Arctic regions 
and visit the United States in autumn, flying 
North again in spring, are winter birds of 
passage. Most of the migratory birds of the 
western United States pass the winter in Mex- 
