14 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
Last year I watched it from the window. 
He was singing. It comes in May and 
leaves in September. It is five and three- 
fourths inches long. It is not a large 
bird. Yours truly, 
Aged 13. John Haehne. 
Mauston, Wis., May 15, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
I have seen quite a few birds this year 
that I never saw before. 
One of the boys found a black-throated 
blue warbler. The bird was hurt. The 
back of its head and back is slaty blue. 
Its throat is black. Its breast is white 
with a little blue. The wings are black 
and white edged with blue. The tail 
is black and white edged with blue. 
I have seen the scarlet tanager, the 
Cape May warbler, the magnolia warbler 
and other birds. I saw the scarlet tana¬ 
ger in the courtyard on a tree. I watched 
it for a while and then it flew to the 
ground. I got a very good view of it. I 
have seen the chestnut-sided warbler. It 
looks as if it had splashes of paint on its 
side. Our school house is right by the 
court house and we go over there every 
recess to look for birds. 
Aged 12. Hazel Clawson. 
Mauston, Wis., May 15, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
Yesterday I saw a summer yellow bird 
by tbe river as I was fishing. It was on 
a branch hanging from the shore over 
the river. This morning as my father 
and I were fishing in our boat we saw 
some more of the summer yellow birds. 
They are yellow all over except at the 
beginning of the tail where it is a little 
brownish black. It is about the size of 
all warblers. It did not sing when I 
saw it. 
Aged 12. 
Mazomanie, Wis., April 30, 1908. 
Dear Wayside: 
The indigo bird is five to six inches 
long. Its color is indigo blue. The 
wings and tail are blackish. The female 
is brown. In winter they go to Central 
America. But it comes to the northern 
part of the United States in nesting sea¬ 
son. It lays three or four eggs, bluish 
white. They make a nest of bark, grass 
andhair. Its nestis built in the fork of a 
bush near to the ground. Sometimes it 
uses its old nest. The birds sing in 
summer and even in August. It feeds 
mostly from the ground. After nesting 
season the male bird becomes brown like 
the female. 
Yours trulv, 
Aged 11. Edwin Redel. 
South Mavwood, Ill. 
Dear Wayside: 
As I was going to school this morning 
I saw the indigo bunting sitting on a 
fence post. I didn’t notice it at first. 
The indigo bunting comes in May. It is 
a little early for him to come. He is 
five and three-fourths inches long. The 
indigo bunting goes away in September. 
I thank you very much for the pictures 
you sent me last week. I am not going 
to kill any birds any more. 
Sincerely yours, 
Aged 10. 
Clara DeYonge. 
Mazomanie, Wis., Mar. 26, 1908. 
Dear Wayside: 
One day as I was visiting my aunt out 
in the country I was walking through 
the meadow and on the ground was a 
meadowlark’s nest. It had four eggs in 
it. The meadowlark has a brown back, 
a vellow breast and a black crescent by 
the throat. 
Leland der Flon. 
Aged 13. 
Yours truly, 
Isabel Tesch. 
