■ 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
71 
the thrasher is spotted with brown. The 
cuckoo is songless, while the thrasher is 
a splendid singer. The thrasher is very 
particular about a place to build its nest. 
If the soil is sandy and dry it will build 
on the ground, and when it is wet it will 
build in a tree or a brushpile. One 
morning as I went down into the orchard, 
I thought I heard the chattering of 
squirrels and began to look around and 
saw a thrasher sitting on a log, calling as 
fast as he could. It seemed to be telling 
me to get away. I looked for the nest 
and found it with the father bird sitting 
on it. It had four speckled eggs in it. 
One week after I found it. There were 
three little thrashers hatched out. Then 
the old birds were kept busy feeding 
them. They soon fell out of the nest 
and helped themselves to food and soon 
flew away. Yours truly, 
Aged 12. Glen Leigh. 
Mauston, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
One morning we rode to town. While 
we were going we saw a scarlet tanager 
in the middle of the road. We drove 
nearly on to it before it flew away. It 
was all bright red except the wings,— 
they were black. It is the size of a blue¬ 
bird. It is a very pretty bird. I have 
also seen the magnolia warbler, the myr¬ 
tle warbler, bobolinks and the barn 
swallow. Yours truly, 
Fred Wermuth. 
Decatur, Ill. 
}ear Wayside: 
I think the oriole, with its black and 
•range coat, is one of our most beautiful 
hrds. One spring two orioles built their 
>est in a poplar tree near our school room 
window. The father bird brought horse 
hair and strings, but the mother bird did 
the weaving. The nest was fastened to 
a branch and hung like a pocket. It 
was a nice cradle for the young birds. 
While the mother bird was on the nest, 
the father bird would fly to the top of a 
large tree near by and sing to her. When 
the little ones were hatched, both birds 
were kept busy feeding them. 
Yours truly, 
Berton Young. 
Mauston, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
One morning as I was going to school 
mamma called me to see what the cat 
had. I came, and she had a western 
yellow throated warbler. I took it awav 
from her and took a good look at it. It 
had a yellow throat shading off with 
olive green. It had a black patch from 
one eye around by its bill to its other 
eye; just above that was a little gray 
spot Its back was an olive green. 
* Yours truly, 
Aged 14. Grover Kimball. 
Mauston, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
One day I was walking down town, 
when I heard a peculiar sound. I looked 
into the tree and saw about ten or 
twelve cedar waxwings. 
The waxwing is very beautifully at¬ 
tired. He has a crest like a bluejav’s. 
His back, head, and breast are a soft 
beautiful brown or tan. There is a band 
of black, reaching from behind the eyes 
to bill. Wings and tail cinnamon brown. 
On its wings are a few spots clustered to¬ 
gether resembling red cnling wax. The 
end of the tail has a yellow band across it. 
