46 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
last Christmas, and eleven kinds of birds came 
to feast off from it. It was placed on a ver¬ 
anda where it could be seen from the inside. 
Instead of popcorn there were strings of 
pumpkin seeds. Small baskets filled with 
seeds of various kinds were hung on securely. 
And there were loose cord bags, in the shape 
of stockings, stuffed with cracked nuts. Suet 
and bones were tied on the branches. 
Who will make a Christmas tree for the 
birds this year? Write to the Secretary about 
the success of your Christmas party. 
Very sincerely your friend, 
Ruth Marshall, 
WISCONSIN PRIZE LETTER. 
Roberts, Wis., Nov. 23, 1904. 
Dear Wayside: 
Once upon a time there was a robin under 
papa’s work bench. There were two wheels 
quite close together and she would hop about 
on her tip toes for material to build her nest. 
For many days she was up and at work be¬ 
fore I was ever out of bed. When she would 
find a cord sh’e would bring it to those two 
wheels, and wind it about and then tie it in 
a knot with her feet. Then she would fly out 
and sit on top of the bench and sing cheer-up, 
cheer-up, che-che. After the nest was made, I 
would look in every day, till after awhile there 
were four blue eggs, and for two long weeks 
she rarely left the nest. When the birds were 
out she was busy all day long finding worms 
for them. But one day a storm came up and 
the moth'er robin was drowned. The little birds 
were helpless and so I gathered some worms 
for them, but I did not know how to feed them 
and they died. 
Age 13. Rosetta Ball. 
ILLINOIS PRIZE LETTER. 
Chicago, Nov. 17, 1904. 
Dear Wayside: 
*/ 
I live at 533 Alma Street, Austin, Ill. I think 
I will write about the ruby-crowned kinglet as 
it is the bird for this month. It has a dark 
greenish color, back more of an olive. It is 
four and one half inches in length. A light 
breast, ring about the eye and its wings are 
barred with white. There were two of them 
that staid around our house. They had a nest 
on one of the window sashes. We tried to take 
the nest away but the father bird flew at us 
and came very near my eye. So we let it stay, 
and one day she flew off the nest and there 
were two little eggs. It has a ruby-crown 
patch. Yours truly, 
Clifford Lindberg. 
11 years old. Julia Ward Howe School. 
Waumadee, Wis., Nov. 25, 1904. 
Dear W 7 ayside. 
I would like to tell you about two blue jays, 
who built their nest in our elm tree. My sis¬ 
ters often put hair and wool on the apple tree 
near it. At last the pair of blue jays took the 
hair and wool and made a nest of it. The nest 
was made with sticks around it and hair and 
wool inside. The next time that we looked in 
the nest after it was finished there were four 
little eggs in it. The next time we looked at 
the nest the eggs were broken, all but one. We 
often saw th’e two birds again, but they never 
made another nest that we saw. 
Your friend, 
Aged 9. Laura Ochsner. 
THE ROBIN. 
The robin is a very well-bred bird. He is 
also a handsome bird. His breast is red and 
his back is brown. He never picks at seeds or 
plants. And now I will tell a story of a robin 
that lived in our yard. 
One day as I walked home from school I saw 
some children looking at a robin and her fam¬ 
ily. I went into the h'ouse and looked out of 
the window. 
I saw the father and mother bird feeding the 
little ones. They were making a great noise 
for they wanted to see which would get the 
first mouthful. There was a sickly bird and he 
sat in a corner of the nest while the others 
made the noise. 
After they had their breakfast they would 
fly about and play. The little sick bird died 
the next day. Th'e mother and father felt very 
badly. The next week I came home from 
school and mamma said that the robins had 
flown away. The rain and wind had beat 
against them so that they h’ad to move to an¬ 
other home. The next day a blue jay came 
and looked into the nest and then flew away. 
