B Y THE WA YE IDE 
31 
the nest any more. About a week after my 
brother came in and said he had found the 
very nest that the bird had taken the shoe¬ 
strings for. We went out and he showed me 
the nest, and sure enough it had the shoe¬ 
strings in with the twigs and other things. 
Your truly, 
Aged 12. Lydia Dosselman. 
Durand, Wis May 28, 1904. 
To The Wayside: 
I am a member of the Spring Creek branch 
of the Audubon society. A few years ago a 
pair of kingfishers built their nest in the Creek 
bank. We found the nest when it had the eggs 
in it. The hole in which the nest was, was 
about two feet deep and six inches across, T 
was unable to learn what the nest was built 
of, it being so dark. 
When the eggs hatched and the birds were 
a few days old we took the little birds out, 
while the old ones were away, to play with. 
The little ones were slow and dumpish' and 
would peck at us every chance they got. 
Sometimes the old ones would come back be¬ 
fore we would put the little ones back and 
then the old ones would fly-at us and peck at 
us. But while they did not care to have us 
boys use their little kingfishers for play toys 
they did not seem to be afraid of us, for they 
built in the same place three successive years. 
Aged 13. Robert Allison. 
If Robert is going to be a loyal member of 
the Audubon society, he will not again take 
young birds from th'eir nests to play with 
them. 
Here are some boys and girls who are will¬ 
ing to stand up for the rights of the birds, and 
help them in their trouble. 
Austin, June 14, 1904. 
Dear Wayside: 
Last week I was out in the prairies and 
there were some boys a little ways away from 
me and they told me to come over there and 
there was a meadowlark’s nest. 
It had five eggs in it. The boys said that 
they were going to put a stick down in the 
ground so that they could tell where it was. 
Rut I told them not to because some* one 
might take the eggs away. 
I went on and as I was coming back I saw 
there were only four eggs left and I ran after 
the boy. I asked him if he took the one egg 
that was in the nest and he said h'e did. 
Then I was going to scar him, so I said to 
him, “I will take you to the police station 
and you will get arrested.” So he said to 
me, "Please let me go. I won’t do it again.” 
Yours truly, 
Aged 12. Emil Christensen. 
Durand, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
I am a member of the Spring Creek branch 
that belongs to the Audubon society and I am 
going to tell you about a little owl. One 
morning my brother found a little owl nearly 
frozen to death'; he put on some gloves and 
went out and caught the owl and brought it 
in the house. In about an hour the little fel¬ 
low began to move around and soon was all 
right. But its feet were swollen, and my broth¬ 
er put some linament on, they seemed to be 
very sore. He took the owl out and it flew to 
a hollow tree. I hope the little owl will get 
well. I think we would be awful lonesome 
without them. I am going to protect them. So 
goodby. Minnie Dewitt. 
Aged 11. 
Durand, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
I am a member of the Spring Creek branch 
of the Audubon society. One night in winter 
I heard a chirping at the door, I went out and 
there was a little bird nearly frozen. I 
brought it in the house and found it to be a 
swallow. Its body was gray and its tail was 
long and very black. Its feet were frozen. I 
put in near the fire. The next day about noon 
it appeared better and I let it out and it flew 
n way and I never saw it again. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 13. Jennie Smith. 
Yiebnll, Wis., July 7, 1904. 
Dear Wayside: 
M e have organized a small Audubon society 
here and have now thirty-two members en¬ 
rolled. We conduct our meetings according to 
parliamentary rules. We have our meetings 
on the first and third Saturdays of each month 
during vacation, and during school we have it 
along with our regular work. 
Bird study is now very popular and I hope 
that it may become prevalent. As a general 
