WA YSIDE 
31 . 
the nest with five little birds in it and 
killed two of the birds. I got the other 
three but two died.” So that one that 
was left he gave to me. I had a bird’s 
cage which I put it in and made it a snug 
little home of cotton batting. y 
That day it was rather afraid of us and 
would not chirp at all, but the next day 
when we went to feed it its bread and 
water it would open its mouth wide and 
chirp. But the day after that it acted 
very sickly and afterwards died. But I 
never found out what kind of a bird it 
was. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 10. Elfrieda Hampel. 
Waumandee, Wis., Feb. 28, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
I am going to tell you about the red¬ 
winged blackbird. Blackbirds are very 
noisy birds. They do not sing nicely. 
The red-winged blackbird sings very 
nicely. It is a black bird with a red 
spot on its wing. 
One time my sisters saw a red-winged 
blackbird. The next day we saw it again. 
It was sitting on the top of a tree. It 
was singing very nicely. 
Red-winged blackbirds build their 
nests in marshy places. We saw two of 
their * nests. There are some cjuite 
marshy places along the creek. We saw 
the nests there. 
The nest was made of dry marsh weeds. 
It was hanging in a bunch of weeds. 
There were no eggs in it. 
On our house a bird built its nest by 
the window. I do not know what kind 
of a bird it was. 
Your friend, 
Ag e( j • Alice Ochsner. 
Deer Park, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
The sparrows are very comical little 
birds, most generally keeping themselves 
in flocks or flying about from place to 
place into every barn, shed and corncrib, 
picking every crumb and seed, chirping 
and fluttering as though the world be¬ 
longed to themselves, or as if they wanted 
you to look at them. 
The sparrows nest in trees, barns, and 
havsheds. They seem to like the eves 
best or some place like that, probably 
because it is the easiest place to build. 
The sparrow lives mostly in northern 
states. It does not seem to care for the 
heat of southern states but likes to have 
its feet wet with the cool snow of the 
north. 
Aged 16. James O’Bryan. 
Chicago, Illinois, April 11, 1805. 
Dear Wayside: 
/ • it 
I will tell you about the downy wood¬ 
pecker. He is a bird with a long spot of 
red, and white and black spots. He is 
as large as a sparrow. Do you know 
how he makes his nest? Ho digs along 
and then stops and digs down. He dbes 
this with his sharp bill. He has many 
muscles in his head. If he had not. he 
could not dig. He is a pretty bird. 
The downy woodpecker has four toes, 
two in front and two in back, and he has 
a tail like a fork. It is verv strong. It 
helps them a gooe deal. He has that so 
he can balance himself. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 7. Harvey Huszagh. 
Maywood, Ill., May 29, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: . 
I have built three bird-houses, and 
the birds are building in them. In one 
house I have sparrows; in another I have 
bluebirds. My, but they are little birds! 
They were born yesterday morning. I 
