70 
BY THE 
seen so many flocks of wax-wings. It is 
very uncommon for the robins to stay in 
La Crosse all winter, but they are here this 
winter, in flocks. 
Yours truly, 
Russell Pope. 
Illinoise Prize Letter. 
Chicago, Jan. 19, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
I am going to tell you now about the nut¬ 
hatch. The nut-hatch is about the size of 
a large sized sparrow. He is a. lively ilttle 
fellow. He has a bluish gray back and a 
white breast, his bill is brown and black. 
His call note is yank, yank, yank. He goes 
about on the bark just like the woodpecker. 
Your little friend, 
Mary Jackson... 
Aged 12. Julia Ward Hofe School. 
La Crosse, Wis., Feb. 3, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
This is the first time I have ever written 
you a letter. I am goin to tell you about a 
brown creeper that I saw one day just as 
I was coming home from school. I had gone 
up our steps and was going to open the door, 
when I saw what looked like a fat brown 
leaf rolling around the trunk of a tree. I 
crept down the steps very carefully and there 
was a brown creeper with beady eyes and a 
long, curved bill crawling around and around 
and pecking at the bark as though' he had 
found some worms. He was so busy that 
he did not see me for nearly five minutes, 
until a big dog came barking along and 
firightened him. He looked up quickly, saw 
me and flew away and that was the last I 
saw of him. 
Yours truly, 
Albert Maurer, Jr. 
Appleton Wis., Feb. 27, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
I am going to write something about chic- 
adees.. Eevery day I put out some crumbs 
for the birds, I happened to have a few 
egg shells one morning, and I put them into 
the snow with the whole upwards. I put 
some crumbs into these egg shells, and the 
next dav one of the neighbors came over 
she said that she saw some birds at the 
eggshells. So I went out to look, and saw 
WA YSIDE 
the birds. They were chickadees. Every 
morning I hear them call for some more 
crumbs. “Chickadee” I hear them say. 1 hey 
peck away merrily, and talk to each othex 
until they are satisfied. I do not know what 
they mean but they seem to be saying “Sat¬ 
isfied, satisfied.” as they fly away over fence 
and meadow. The chickadee is one of our 
winter birds. He wears a black bonnet, and 
a white bib around his neck. His breast is 
yellow and his back is a kind of greenish 
gray. 
Aged 11. Irven Schwerke. 
Wheeler, Wis., Feb. 25, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
The history of Swallows. Some Swallows 
built their nests in our barn and I watched 
them till there were young ones in it, and 
one day a little swallow fell out of the 
nest on to the barn floor, and I picked it 
up and ran to the house and put it in a cage 
then I took the cage to the barn and I 
watched the mother bird fly around the cage 
trying to get in. but she could not, then I let 
the little swallow out and, and large number 
lows that build their nests in the barn 
The little swallow could not fly so I caught 
it and put it back into the nest and it did 
not fall out again. There were several swal- 
and when the little ones were hatched there 
was a whole flock of birds around the barn. 
The swallows generally have two or three 
broods a year; the swallow mostly re¬ 
sembles a robin only smaller. They are nice 
birds and are not mean like the crow and 
bluejay, they do not rob other birds’ nests 
and kill the little birds. 
Fred W. Sager, 
Aged 12. Wheeler, Wis. 
© 
THE ROBIN. 
The robin- is a pretty bird about ten inches 
long. In the spring he looks the finest be¬ 
cause lie is dressed in his brightest colors for 
the matching season. 
Some times two males trv to mate with 
i. 
the same female. They fight and quarrel with 
each other. The strongest one usually wins 
her. After they are mated, they build a 
home for themselves made of mud, straw and 
feathers. When the nest is built the female 
lays e«igs in it. The robin lavs four or 
