B Y THE WA YSIDE 
39 
had. flown away. When they went away some 
of the boys knocked the nest down and tore 
it up. Bessie Armstrong. 
Aged 12. Kilbourn, Wis. 
Chicago, June 13, 1904. 
Dear Wayside: 
I thought I would like to have my letter of 
the birds published in the Wayside. The other 
day I saw a large robin flying to a nest which 
was built right on a house. There was a 
robin in the nest and the other robin had a 
mouthful of food for the little ones. 
Another day I found a bird that had broken 
its leg in a wire fence. I brought it to the 
house and set its leg. First I put some salve 
on a piece of cloth, and and then I put an a 
little stick tied on with the cloth. After a 
few days, I let it go and it flew away. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 12. Oliver Anderson. 
A Flock of Quail. 
One day I was out in the potato field I look- 
over in the woods and there was a big flock of 
quail. They were walking along so funny. 
They went through the potato field. They 
were eating bugs off of the ground. There 
were some more quail over in another field 
and they were calling for the others. The 
quail is brown. They have their nest on the 
ground. They have twelve to fourteen eggs. 
Stanley Parsons, 
Aged 12. Kilbourn, Wis. 
Madison, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
I have been a member of the Audubon So¬ 
ciety for a year. 
There are robins, blue birds and blue jays 
in our yard. The robins have grayish backs 
and red breasts. The blue birds have blue 
backs and brown breasts. The blue jays have 
blue backs and barred tails and caps on their 
heads. One morning a few weeks ago there 
were a lot of robins in the yard under an ap¬ 
ple tree. On the tree was a lot of frozen apples ; 
they were eating them. In our yard are two 
evergreens and the birds come and eat the lit¬ 
tle berries off of them. I am going to put a 
box up on the house and see if I can get a 
pair of wrens. 
Josephine Maher. 
Wren. 
The wren is a very pretty little bird. Last 
year my brother built me a bird house and a 
pair of wrens built in it. He put the house on 
top of the shed. The nest was made of string, 
straw, sticks and some old dried leaves, and 
a few feathers of chickens. Every day these 
wrens would go out to find something to eat. 
When one came back the other flew away, and 
that is the way they kept on. Mamma and I 
used to watch them go back and forth to find 
something to eat and get things to make the 
nest of. 
One day when the wren was setting on the 
a house, a sparrow came by and chased it 
away. Then the sparrow flew into the house. 
I went out and chased the sparrow away. 
When the sparrow was gone, the wren came 
back. 
After a couple of weeks, some boys tried to 
rob the nest, but mamma saw the boys, and 
she called them away, but they must have rob- 
the nest, for we never saw any little birds 
come from the bird house, and the parents 
seemed distressed. The old birds stayed only 
a few weeks longer, and then they went away. 
It was getting toward fall and I guess they 
went south'. Amanda Schulz. 
Aged 12. Appleton, Wis. 
The Redwing Black Bird. 
The red wing blackbird is found all over 
these parts. He is not as large as the robin, 
about 9 y 2 inches long. He is black all over 
except one spot on his wings which is bright 
red and orange. It seems to be on the should¬ 
er when his wings are closed. He makes a 
very pretty sight when he is flying. The red 
wing’s mate is a very modest looking bird in 
stripes of brown and black. 
She walks about looking for insects. She is 
so busy about her work that she hardly sees 
anything else. The nest is in a marsh or wet 
place because they are very fond of water. 
The song is a loud and sweet one, as they go 
flying about high in the sky. Their nest is 
made in a branch of a small bush. It is a 
very pretty and comfortable nest. The red 
wing blackbird arrives early in March and 
leaves early in November. 
Mabel Hill. 
Durand, Oct. 31, 1904. 
The editor wants to remind the boys and 
girls that the best letters are those that tell 
