30 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
report to our president the birds we saw. 
When we do not know a bird we de¬ 
scribe it to our teacher and she tells us 
Sherman Jasper. 
Birds . 
Little York, Ill., April, 24, 1907. 
I go through some woods and I cross 
the creek every day when I go to school. 
I see a new bird nearly every morning. 
I like to watch the birds. I know one 
hundred and four birds in this county. 
I want to see ten new kinds this summer. 
A dicker has a nest in a tree near our 
house. I like to see them in our yard 
for they are always eating worms and 
bugs. They have four white eggs in 
their nest now. M e put up a straw- 
berrv box in our yard for a nest lor the 
wrens. They have built in it lor two 
years. We saw a fine looking bird this 
morning. It is about the size ol the 
English sparrow. It has white on its 
head. Its body is grayish brown. It 
had a clear w r histle. \\ e think it is the 
white crowned sparrow. 
Walter Kinkaid. 
The Cort-Bird . 
One spring morning a pair ol birds 
built a nest in our tree. Pretty soon I 
found out that they had five eggs in the 
nest. Every day the male brought food 
to the female. One morning when I 
went out, I saw the birds making a new 
nest. Not knowing what had happened, 
I climbed up the tree and saw six eggs 
in the old nest. One was different from 
the others. Alter much inquiring I 
found out that a cow-bird had deposited 
an egg in the other bird’s nest, so the 
bird owners deserted it. 
Abe Shenowskv. 
The Mocking Bird. 
Decatur, Ill. 
Last summer when the days were 
sunny, a family of mocking birds made 
their home in the apple tree near our 
door step. We would throw crumbs to 
them, but they would not eat them until 
we went into the house. Then they 
would ffy down and eat them. One 
evening when I was feeding the chickens, 
I saw a mocking bird sitting in the tree, 
and it was singing first one song and 
then another kind. They do not sing 
the same song all the time. Their nests 
are built of straws, sticks and feathers. 
Their color is gray. One day when the 
kittens were playing out in the yard, a 
mocking bird flew down and began to 
fight them, and nearly put their eyes out. 
One day my brother caught a bird and it 
seemed so sad and unhappy in a cage, 
that mamma told us to let it go and be 
free. 
Leila Oakleaf. 
The Birds' Breakfast. 
April 19, 1907. 
One morning in April, there was snow 
on the ground about four inches deep, 
and the birds were looking lor food. 
My mother suggested something I would 
have never thought of. and that was to 
sweep off the sidewalk in the back yard 
and throw out some food. The robin 
with his light red breast, went after the 
raisins, prunes and suet, and the next 
dav the junco, with his white breast and 
slate colored back came and brought the 
kinglet with him. But the next morn¬ 
ing it snowed again and covered up the 
feeding place and the birds could not 
find the food. But I swept it oil again 
