16 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
some kind of a, woodpecker just by bis 
notes. 
We went into the orchard, but when 
we got close enough to see him, he tiew 
away. We went on until we came to a 
group of willows near the road when we 
heard the same call again. We also 
heard him pecking on the trees. We 
went over there, getting within twelve or 
fifteen feet of him. He seemed very 
tame and tiew from tree to tree, picking 
at the bark. He would alight on a tree 
about ten or twelve feet from the ground 
and then go around the tree and upward 
till he reached the top. He clung to the 
sides of the trees, bracing himself by his 
tail. His tail was short and stubby. 
He was a little larger than an English 
Sparrow and had a band of pure white 
on his back. On either side of this 
white band there was a black band with 
a few white spots in it. He had a bright 
scarlet spot on the back of his head and 
a white breast. His head was black 
striped with white. His feet were just 
like claws and he went easily around the 
tree trunks. His bill was stout and he 
looked as if he were a little humped. 
We looked in the Bird Guide and 
found that he was a Northern Downy 
Woodpecker. 
The next day he was in the same grove 
of trees with his mate. She didn’t have 
the red patch on her head. 
We understand these woodpeckers 
make holes in old trees and live in them 
in the winter and that they also nest in 
them, laying from four to six white eggs 
on the bare wood. So we have determined 
to keep a good watch on our new ac¬ 
quaintances and see if we can find their 
nest this summer. 
The woodpeckers do a great deal more 
good than people usually think, by de¬ 
stroying the grubs and larvae in the 
orchard trees. 
Areola, Ill. Nellie Fleming. 
Elkhart Lake, April 19, 1906. 
Dear Miss Marshall: 
The teacher and the children in our 
room went walking last Monday. We 
saw eight gulls, six blackbirds, two rob¬ 
ins, three bluebirds, two orioles and 
some other ones. We found two orioles’ 
nests and some other nests. In our 
front yard is an oriole nest. It is a 
hanging nest. I like to hear birds sing. 
I like them very much. My sister made 
two bird houses. She put them in a 
tree. I saw two robins Monday. I am 
nine years old and in the fourth grade. 
Yours truly, 
Elda Laun. 
Gross Point, Ill., March 26, 1906. 
Dear Wayside: 
Last summer one day while we were 
at our lunch we 1 saw two bluebirds go 
into the old apple tree which had a hol¬ 
low hole in it. They had a few strands 
of hav and went into the hole and in a 
few moments they came out. Then we 
went to look into the hole and the birds 
were making a nest. A few days after 
we went to look again and there were 
two pale blue eggs. We did not tell 
anybody for we were afraid they would 
break them or touch them. We went 
to look again and thev were broken. I 
think the little birds must have come 
out. Every morning we took bread 
crumbs out to the tree. 
Yours verv trulv, 
Aged 12. Gertrude Blum. 
An extract from a letter to the editor 
from a Wayside mother: 
Daniel came home this noon with a 
small wooden box from the store which 
he in'ends making into a bird house 
He will then take it to school for inspec¬ 
tion bv his teacher who will act as judge. 
Sevtral of the boys are to make one. 
They will finally place them at home 
somewhere for use by the birds. We 
enjoy *‘By the Wayside” very much. 
