BY THE WAYSIDE. 
91 
I' 
id has been known to take care of the young 
other birds. 
We could write a whole book about the wren, 
id all the funny places where it builds its 
J ist. Andrew Thronson. 
| 
Barneveld, Wis. 
Dear Wayside. — I saw a cat trying to get 
blackbird’s nest that was built near a paled 
nee. The bird left her nest and, in a great 
ate of alarm, placed herself almost in the 
! ach of the cat, uttering piteous screams of 
ildness and despair. The cock-bird also 
owed his distress, sometimes placing him- 
If on the fence just below the cat, who was 
table to make a spring at him. The danger 
j owing worse the cock-bird flew at the cat, 
ttled on her back, and pecked her head until 
e fell to the ground, and was very glad to 
t away. I belong to the Audubon Society 
Ld am very .thankful to help the birds, and 
ill do all I can for them. 
Anna Gladys Grebner, age 11 years. 
! — 
In 
Hammond, Wis. 
Dear Wayside. —There are a lot of bluejays 
ound here. My brother put a large piece of 
t meat up in one of our trees near the 
►use for the birds. One day as I was watch- 
g out of the window a bluejay flew up in 
e tree, hopping from branch to branch, until 
came to the place where the meat was. Then 
began to eat and when it had enough it flew 
fay. It came back the next day and it 
I ought its mate with him and some other 
uejays. The bluejay’s voice is loud and 
rill. I throw out crumbs most every day for 
rds to eat. Sometimes the bluejays chase the 
her birds away so they cannot have any of 
e crumbs. 
Iva McCullough, age 13. 
Hammond. 
Dear Wayside. —Tuesday, February 24, I 
ard a bird singing. It sounded something 
;e the song of the meadow-lark, but, with 
more shriller note. When I heard it sing- 
g I said to myself, “I wish I could see that 
bird, it had such a sweet song and sounds 
so nice in this solitary air.” 
The next day I saw some birds walking on 
the snow and heard them singing. Their 
songs sounded like the one I heard the day be¬ 
fore. 
I found that they were prairie horned larks. 
The prairie horned lark is grayish white on 
under part of body and brownish on upper 
part. There is a black stripe above each .eye 
and one on the throat. Its bill is quite long 
and drab color and its tail is long and drab. 
And there are two black feathers projecting 
from the top of head which look like horns. 
I suppose that is why it is called horned lark. 
It is about the size of a cat bird. 
Last June when our corn came out of the 
ground some prairie horned larks pulled up 
about two rows of corn and ate the soft ker¬ 
nels. 
One day last summer as I was walking across 
a meadow about a hundred or more prairie 
horned larks flew up from the ground ahead of 
me. I suppose they were looking for something 
to eat. Earl Conrad. 
Age 13. 
Burkhardt, Wis. 
Dear Wayside. — As I was coming to school 
one morning I thought I could make my road 
shorter by going through a field and I came 
to a hollow filled with weeds. The weeds were 
covered with juncoes. When I went near them 
they started to fly. They flew around the hol¬ 
low once or twice and then settled on the weeds 
again and commenced singing. I had no more 
time to watch them because it was nearly 
school time. 
The juncoes fly high and when they get 
hungry they come down to the ground. 
They start coming here in September and go 
away in April. 
There are some around the schoolhouse. They 
eat the bread we throw away. One day one 
flew into the schoolroom. It flew around the 
ceiling about twenty times and then we caught 
it and put it out doors. 
