BY THE WAYSIDE. 
43 
Belvidere, III., Aug. 20, 1001. 
Bear Miss Drummond: On our bird ta¬ 
ble (last night) was a little rosebreasted 
grosbeak. I do not know whether it was a 
male or a female. It was a young one and it 
was dressed exactly like the mother. 
Our pump is near the bird table—I should 
say about three feet from it, maybe less. 
Mamma wanted a drink and just as I got 
ready to go out this grosbeak flew on the 
table. I did not want to scare it away, so 
I peeped out and talked to it, but it still 
stayed. 
I should say it stayed about half an hour, 
and at last I went very quietly towards the 
pump. I had taken one step when off flew 
the bird. 
As soon as I had gotten inside the house 
it flew back peering through the branches. 
Muriel Lampert. 
The Cat Bird. 
The cat bird is dark brown; it belongs to 
the family of mocking birds, and is called 
a cat bird because it sometimes makes a 
noise like a cat. But it sings very sweetly 
at times. Every year one builds her nest 
in our apple tree and I watch her. One day 
I saw her carry some feathers; another day 
she took a cloth from a line; it was all she 
could carry. Then I watched for some time. 
One day I saw her carry a worm to her nest. 
After a week a little bird fell to the ground. 
Then I went out and tried to pick it up, 
but the mother bird would not let me. She 
scolden and tried to peck me. Another day 
as I went out in the yard I heard a noise. 
At first it frightened me. I called mother. 
She said it was a young bird. I found it 
and picked it up and put it in an old bird 
cage. I hung it at my window. It was open 
and the old birds fed it worms and cherries 
until it was strong enough to fly. I have 
taken care of the young birds for two years 
to prevent the cats from killing them. I 
love birds and I think it is a pity to hurt 
them. 
Edna Sawyer, 
219 East 9th St., Alton. 
Aged 10 years. 
I once saw a mother robin carrying a 
large worm in her beak. I thought I would 
watch and see where she was going. She 
stopped in a place where the grass was 
quite high. In a little while she came out 
again and flew around in great distress. 
After she had gone away I went to see what 
was the matter. There was a little dead 
robin in the same spot where the mother 
bird had been. I waited to see if the mother 
bird would come back. Before one minute 
had passed, the bird came back with some 
leaves. She was flying as fast as she could. 
She put them over the dead bird. In this 
way she kept on until the bird was safely 
covered. She then flew back to the nest to 
feed the other birds, who were very hun¬ 
gry. Freda Dittman, 
Age 13 years. 1006 Vine St., 
La Crosse, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: I am going to tell you 
about an eagle which I saw when I was 
still quite small. My papa and the hired 
man went out doors, and to their great sur¬ 
prise they saw an eagle by a bench near 
the house eating fish heads. 
Papa called us to come and see. Then 
he took a broom and put it on the eagle’s 
back so he could not fly away. The hired 
man took him by his feet and mamma by 
his neck and papa by his wings. 
Then they carried him and put him in a 
cage and gave him something to eat. He 
measured seven feet two inches from tip 
to tip. Yours truly, 
Age 12. Rosa I. Elmer. 
In the report of the Missouri Audobon so¬ 
ciety, published in Bird-Lore, the organ of 
the Audobon societies, for August, it is 
stated that song and insectivirous birds have 
decreased 62 per cent, and game birds 80 
per cent in the state of Missiuri during the 
past fifteen years. 
Outing, edited by Caspar Whitney, main¬ 
tains its high position as a magazine of 
sport and outdoor life; and its beautiful il¬ 
lustrations greatly enhance is value. 
