BY THE WAYSIDE 
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WISCONSIN AND ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETIES 
One Year, 25 Cents Illinois Number One Year, 25 Cents 
Published by the Wisconsin Audubon Society. 
Entered January 27, 1903, at Milwaukee, Wis., as second-class matter, under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 
VOL. VI. NOVEMBER, 1903 No. 7 
The Wind Brooms. 
The wind has many big strong brooms 
To sweep the dead leaves in the fall; 
He sweeps up all the forest rooms, 
• He tidies up the roadsides all. 
“Huff! Huff! 
Puff! Puff! 
It's cleaning time!” he seems to call. 
O 
He blows the sky of clouds all free, 
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He dusts the bushes clean and bare, 
He strips the leaves from every tree 
And sends them flying through the air. 
“Huff! Huff! 
Puff! Puff! 
I’m cleaning now,” he cries. “Take care! 
•i; 
You feel the wind-brooms work and shake. 
Although they never meet the eye ; 
But some fine morning when you wake, 
You see a clean, bare earth and sky. 
“Huff! Huff! 
Puff! Puff! 
We’re off till spring,” they call. “Good-by! ” 
—From St. Nicholas. 
Olive and Her Friends. 
One day in the early spring Olive was on 
the lawn watching the chippies and robins, 
when she heiard a cat mew. She at once began 
a search for it, as she knew her mother wished 
no cats on the grounds for fear they might 
molest the song birds, whom she loved to have 
build their homes there. She continued to 
hear a peculiar mew coming apparently from 
the trees, but found no intruder, when sudden¬ 
ly her bright eves spied something that caused 
her to call “Mother! Mother! please come and 
see this bird that mews like a cat. - ’ There, 
sure enough, was a gray bird, perking its long 
tail, and uttering a cat-like cry as it peered 
down at them from the large elm tree. To 
Olive's delight her mother told her “it was 
one of our familiar birds, and called a cat 
j bird from its mew; and of such a friendly 
nature that perhaps if she were kind and gen¬ 
tle toward the little creature she could make 
it her friend.” Olive, who was becoming in¬ 
terested in birds, decided to try, and then and 
there began a charming friendship between a 
little girl and two dear birds that lasted until 
cold weather drove the birds to a warmer clime. 
Their “little tummies” received her first at¬ 
tention by the scattering of crumbs on the 
lawn. She was at first disappointed to have 
only sturdy English sparrows and fat robins 
pick them up. but it w T as not long before one 
and then a second cat bird joined the flock. 
In a few days a nest was begun in the syringa 
bush under the elm tree, and Olive noticed how 
the bird whose long tail spread out like an 
open fan, seemed too busy with the daily con¬ 
tinuous concerts it gave from the elm tree to 
help much in the building of the house; while 
the slightly smaller one with a long, thin, nar¬ 
row tail was perfectly happy to do the work 
and listen to the other’s sweet music. Then 
Minnie, as Olive named the worker, who proved 
to be the mother bird, began her brooding, and 
with seemingly no fear allowed Olive to stand 
close by and talk softly to her, as she sat 
patiently cn the nest, while Charlie from above 
sane 1 his jovous melody. 
It was not very many days before three little 
heads with open mouths appeared above the 
edge of the nest clamoring for food. Both birds 
soon learned Olive’s whistle, and came in re¬ 
sponse to it, and by the time cherries—their 
great dainty—were ripe, so eager were they 
for them that the two came on the grass or 
fringe tree by the veranda and mewed until 
Olive placed cherries on the railing, when after 
a few minutes of silent looking Minnie would 
hop shyly along, pick them off one by one and 
carry them to her teazing babies, and either 
by accident or design, she managed to drop 
seme on the grass for Charlie to pick up. The 
sweet little mother also came, regardless of 
anyone on the veranda, and would hop up the 
steps to the corner where the cherry box was 
