78 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
it Hew to the middle of the field and hid 
near a tuft of grass. It seemed to think 
it was safely hidden in the dry grass. Its 
back, which seemed to be a mixture of 
yellowish brown with black, was very 
much the color of the grass and earth. 
When it flew from the hedge branch it 
nervously twitched its tail and showed 
the white feathers in it. It flapped its 
wings and sailed to the ground near the 
tuft of grass. The tail is short and the 
outside feathers are white. The bill is 
very long. The beautiful yellow on its 
breast and the black crescent make it a 
handsome bird. They seem to always 
face the sun when they whistle. They 
have a short note which they give when 
frightened. They eat many grubs and 
injurious insects. 
Yours truly, 
Mavbel Jackson. 
Mazomanie, Wis., March 22, 1907, 
Dear Wavside: 
m/ 
Last spring the robins came back; a 
pair of robins built a nest in a tree back 
of our house. I put out some string to 
help them in their building. 
In the winter the nest must have fallen 
down for this spring I could not find it. 
When these robins came back they be¬ 
gan building again but the bluejay drove 
them away. 
The robin has a reddish brown breast, 
grayish black back and wings, and has a 
white throat with black stripes. He is 
about eight inches long. 
From your friend, 
Aged 11. Mildred Johnson. 
Cleveland, Wis., March 25, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
About a week before spring began I 
saw five robins in our orchard. Two of 
them are very busy building their nest 
in a poplar tree near my home. The 
tree is not very high, so I can easily see 
them working away at their nest. They 
carry straw and hay to build it. They 
•j %/ 
use a little mud to make it stick together. 
I have seen one of them carry a feather 
to their nest, to make it softer, I think. 
The breast of the robin is of a dull red 
color. The wings are gray. The head 
and tail are of a blackish color. I never 
see them much in the daytime because I 
am not at home. But just as soon as I 
get home I watch them. We had a snow 
storm after the robins had come, but the 
robins did not go away. The robins are 
very interesting little birds to watch. 
Yours truly, 
Alma Henschel. 
Mazomanie, Wis., March 2, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
One day when I was going to school I 
saw a flicker. It was up in a tree and 
was making a funny noise. It was pick¬ 
ing the tree so as to make a hole for him 
to live in. Then he went away and 
then he came back again. Its breast is 
black and brown, and it has a black col¬ 
lar around his neck and has a red spot 
on his head. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 13. Alfred Redel. 
Mazomanie, Wis., March 22, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
Last fall a little chipping sparrow 
built a nest in the vines above our win¬ 
dow and every day I used to look at it 
through the window. One morning just 
before I got up, my mother went and 
looked at the nest to see if it was alright 
and she saw two bluejays driving the 
