BY THE WAYSIDE. 
59 
lackbirds. In a puddle of water I found a 
i potted sandpiper with one of its legs hanging 
j m P and useless. It was wading out on some 
artly submerged boards, and feeding on 
lings floating in the water. 
On the ninth, we found winter wrens very 
umerous in Lake' Park and the marshes near 
Small flocks of bluebirds were gathering, 
ad numerous tree sparrows had arrived. On 
e a home I saw a large flock of coots, 
n the eleventh, a few golden-crowned king- 
ts and a catbird were seen in Pettibone Park, 
wo days afterward while walking on the 
reen Bay tracks we saw a sora rail. We 
jard them all over the marsh, but so well 
ere they hidden that we saw only this one. 
hen nearly dark we saw a bird with a heavy 
11 and darkly streaked on both back and 
•east which we think was a female or imrna- 
[ire purple finch. We occasionally heard bob- 
hites, especially toward evening, but saw very 
w of them. Leo J. Egelberg. 
Age 15. 
1 
i - 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
Tinley Park. 
|i Dear Wayside: I will tell you about some 
1 ackbirds. When I went home one nigrht I 
| w a flock of blackbirds about three blocks 
ng. They were flying as fast as they could 
| '• Once I was sitting in the corn-house and a 
,)ck of blackbirds flew to a maple tree and 
ng. Charlie Koehler. 
, Age 11 years. 
| - 
Dear Wayside : About two weeks ago one 
I ght when I was going home from school I 
w a bird about as big as a robin, it had a 
ack head, black body, black wings with a 
life spot ten each and a black tail with a 
lite margin ; it is the first one I ever saw. 
A few nights ago I saw a bird about five 
ches long from the tip of its tail to the tip 
its bill. It was light slate color under- 
ath and a dark slate color on top. Its head, 
ck and tail were all the same color. I have 
m those small birds quite a number of times. 
E ey are seen mostly in the fall here. 
This summer we had quite a lot of sunflow- 
1 ; and when they got ripe this fall the little 
ickadees came and picked the seeds from the 
nflower heads and put them in the bark of 
5 trees. 
[ have seen lots of white-breasted nuthatches ; 
one took sunflower seeds and hid them in the 
clothesline post for winter food. This morn¬ 
ing I saw a black-capped chickadee; it was 
very pretty. 
Last spring the boys of our school put up 
some bird houses and this fall after the sum¬ 
mer birds had left it I saw some chickadees 
carry some bread, straw and sticks to one of 
the houses arid then it came out without any. 
When do the chickadees nest? This fall after 
papa, planted his rye a flock of quails stayed 
there and ate some of it, but he says, ‘‘let 
them have it, they don't do any hurt.” I 
think they do more good than bad. I wish 
some one would tell me what a red tanager 
looks like. Freda Fisher, age 12. 
Necedah. 
Madison, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: To-day during recess we 
saw a strange looking bird and we did not 
know the name of it, so we write to ask you 
its name. It was a trifle larger than a spar¬ 
row. Its body was a bluish-gray; its wings 
were the same color as its body, striped with 
black and white. The tail was quite large and 
wide, and the same color as its wings. The 
bill was long and peaked. It had a small 
head, long legs and long-peaked toes. Hoping 
you will know the name of the bird, I remain, 
Malinda Heidexreich. 
Dear Wayside: Freda Fisher must have 
seen a night hawk, the “black bird with white 
on wings and tail.” It is common throughout 
the state and flies late in the afternoon. But 
it was late in the season, as they migrate south 
usually in September. This bird is black as 
Freda says, but is speckled with brown, white 
and yellowish, so it does not look so black un¬ 
less seen in the sky. 
The only other bird it might be is the young 
of the yellow-headed blackbird, which has a 
dull, black-brown head, white on wings, but 
no white on tail, so I think we may conclude 
it is the nighthawk. 
The little bird “dark slate colored above and 
lighter on breast" must be the slate-colored 
snow-bird or junco; it is very common in the 
autumn in flocks of from a dozen to hundreds. 
But I wonder Freda did not notice its white 
tail feathers; the two outer ones show white 
when the bird flies or flits on the ground, and 
