78 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
lowish white eye, adds to the singularity of 
their appearance. 
The Grackle’s nest is a bulky, compact 
structure of mud and grasses. It is usually 
placed in trees, twenty or thirty feet from the 
ground but the bird may sometimes nest in 
bushes or even in a woodpecker’s deserted 
whole. The thre to six eggs are generally 
pale bluish green, strikingly spotted, blotch- 
er or scrawled with brown and black. But 
one brood is raised, and when the young leave 
the nest they roam about the countiy, in 
small bands, which later join together, form- 
in 0- the enormous Hocks of these birds we 
© 
see in the fall. 
—Frank M. Chapman in Bird Life. 
Letters about the above bird should be sent 
to the secretaries by May first. 
WISCONSIN PRIZE LETTER. 
La Crosse, Wis., March 23, 1905. 
Pear Wayside: 
The downy woodpecker is a strong bird and 
is with us all the year. It usually builds its 
nest in th’e hollow of a tree. 
Last summer I saw a downy woodpecker 
near its nest. The upper parts of this wood¬ 
pecker were black and white, a spot of red on 
its neck, and under parts white. It was 
climbing very fast up the tree. It went half 
way up and then disappeared into its nest. 
The egg of this woodpecker is glossy white, 
like other woodpeckers. 
Every time I have seen any woodpeckers 
they were not in docks, but alone. 
Aged 9 years. Paul Egbert. 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
Chicago. March, 23, 1905. 
Pear Wayside: 
»■ 
The downy woodpecker is smaller than the 
red-headed woodpecker. The downy wood¬ 
pecker has some red on the back of his head, 
he has a white breast like the red-headed 
woodpecker, he has a sharp bill, a black back, 
spotted with white. I think the red-headed 
woodpecker is prettier than the downy wood¬ 
pecker. T saw a robin a few days ago. He 
was out in the street eating something, the 
robin stayed in the street a little while, 
then he Hew away into a tree and I saw 
nothing more of him. 
Yours truly. 
Hazel Riley. 
La Crosse, Wis., March 24, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
I am a member of the Audubon Society 
and like to study birds. I am to write about 
the downy woodpecker. 
It is a bird six or seven inches long. It is 
medium sized, about like an English sparrow. 
Its back is black, striped with white. Its 
tail is short and shaped like a wedge with 
its outer feathers white striped with black. 
The feathers between them are black. 
It has a black stripe on the top of its head 
and a white band over and under its eyes. It 
has a red patch of feathers on the back of its 
h'ead like a red cap. 
Its wings have six white bands crossing 
each other. It is white underneath the wings. 
I saw many downy woodpeckers last year, 
but haven’t seen any this year as there are 
not many yet. 
I saw one climbing the tree as fast as it 
could, pecking th'e bark as it went, trying to 
get a worm. 
The woodpeckers most always build their 
nests in a hollow tree. Some woodpeckers 
stay with us all winter. 
A^ed 14 years. Tillie Munson. 
<T5 
Necedah, Wis., March 25, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
I put some worms onto a stump for the 
chickadees. I will tell you wh’at birds I have 
seen in the month of February and March: 
7 Bluebirds, 14 Blue jays, 14 Woodpeckers, 
200 Crows, 12 Sparrows, 14 doves, 25 Chicadees, 
24 Snowbirds, 6 Canaries, 1 Crane, 150 Rob¬ 
ins, 4 Hawks, 1 Flock Brosbeaks, 20 Wild 
Ducks, 40 Wild Geese, head 1 Prairie Chick¬ 
en.. The Downy Wodpecker eats worms, 
crumbs, and corn. Its colors are black and 
white. It has a long beak, long claws, short 
legs. It pecks holes in trees for its home, 
and pecks worms out of trees for its living. 
Once our cat saw a woodpecker pecking on 
some grubs. He sneaked up closer and clos¬ 
er, when the bird flew away the cat came to 
the house with his head down and looking 
disappointed. I think the downy woodpecker 
is a cunning little bird. I like to sit and watch 
them get their food. There was a rotten tree 
just below our place, and the woodpeckers 
had holes all over it. After a while the wind 
blew the tree down. 
Aged 10. 
Aged 10 
Audre M. Fisher. 
