BY THE WAYSIDE. 
99 
:|; 
Feb. 26, 1904. 
Dear Wayside: This month I saw a blue 
; jay. He was sitting on the corn house. He 
was eating corn. He is always near the house. 
| I get him some corn every day and he is 
tame. He eats with the chickens. He hops 
[ around the yard. I like to see him hop. He 
sings all day and I feed him with the hens. 
I have a bird house up and he lived in it 
and the sparrows lived with him too. 
When I feed the horse hay I see sparrows 
I and the blue jay is with them. I like birds. 
Tinley Park. Harold Hammond. 
Birds in Tlarch. 
Bloomington, Ill., April 1, 1904. 
By the first of the month a number of robins 
I and blue birds were here. Those birds are 
among the first to come back to us in the 
spring. They increased in number until now 
i at the close of the month I can hardly step 
j out without seeing them, especially the robins. 
We are all used to the “cheer up” call of 
the robin, but one day I heard a male robin 
singing to a female and the song was very 
sweet. 
The downy and hairy woodpeckers have been 
with us all month, and I have seen them climb¬ 
ing up maple trees and boring into the trunks. 
Several times during the month I have seen 
crows flying. On the twenty-seventh I saw a 
1, blackbird. 
The bright but saucy blue jays have been 
with us during the month. The English spar¬ 
rows are already carrying dry gra^s for nests. 
A flock of snow birds were in our hedge on 
the twenty-fifth. A few days later I saw a 
turtle dove flying near my home. One built 
a nest in one of our white pines last summer 
and I hope that it will return. 
On the last day of the month I saw a nut¬ 
hatch climbing up a maple tree. 
Box 27. Eunice Killion. 
Dear Park, Wis., March 30, 1904. 
Dear Mrs. Peckham: We organized an 
Audubon Society in the Deer Park School about 
two weeks ago. 
I ! ^ 
Tlie officers are as follows: President, Ruth 
Jacobsen; vice-president, Wesley Christopher- 
son; secretary, Jessie Thompson; assistant sec¬ 
retary, Effie Torgorson; treasurer, Anna 
Thompson; assistant treasurer, Hattie Torgor¬ 
son. 
We have now fifty-three members and hope 
to have many more. 
There are three rooms in our school. The 
three rooms have planned to meet together 
twice a month. 
Rutii Jacobsen, Age 13. 
Deer Park, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: One day last summer a 
bird built its nest in the water spout on our 
house. When it would rain the bird would sit 
on the nest and let the water run over it. But 
after a few days we had to tear it down be¬ 
cause the water that ran into the cistern had 
straw and sticks in it. 
Ruth Larson, Age 12. 
The Invisible Bird Party. 
The charming Miss Thrush is busy sending 
out invitations for the first party of the sea¬ 
son. All the other birds are very busy getting 
their dresses and suits ready. They are doing 
this before they receive an invitation, as they 
all feel sure they will get one. 
Sure enough, when all the invitations are 
given out not one bird is slighted. 
They are all so pleased with their invitations 
that thev decide to keep them. 
V 
This is the way the invitations read: 
My Dear Friend: You are very welcome to 
attend a party given at the home of Julia 
Thrush on March seventeenth, St. Patrick’s 
Day, at her home on State street. 
You may bring friends with you if you wish, 
as there is plenty of room here. 
I shall hope to see you here early. 
Yours truly, J. T. 
March 10th, 1904. 
After the invitations and other things were at¬ 
tended to Miss Julia started to work fixing her 
dress for the party. It was just completed on 
the day before the party. 
Miss Julia went to bed early on Wednesday 
night, as she wanted to be up early in the 
morning. Before morning came she woke up 
and found it to be raining just dreadfully 
hard. She felt bad over this but went to sleep 
