24 
BY THE WA YSIDE 
nest—on- Sunday, too, but I don’t sup¬ 
pose they know any better. And work! 
thev worked like little nailers, just as if 
they wanted to get it done for that night. 
There are some woodpeckers’ and flick¬ 
ers’ nests back of our neighbor’s barn. 
Yours sincerely, 
Aged 12. Irma Otto. 
Mazomanie, Wis., April 30, 1908. 
Dear Wayside: 
The indigo bird is from five to six 
inches long. In color we call it indigo 
blue. The female is brown. In winter 
they go to Central America, that is why 
they don’t get here so early, for it takes 
them quite awhile to get here. It nests in 
Northern United States. It appears in 
Mazomanie in May or June. It lays three 
or four bluish white eggs. It makes its 
nest of grass, leaves, and bark, lined with 
fine grass and hair. Its nest is built in a 
fork of a bush near to the ground. Some¬ 
times it fixes up its old nests. This bird 
sings all summer and in August. It 
feeds mostly from the ground. After the 
nesting season is over the male bird be¬ 
comes brown like the female bird. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 13. Isabelle Tesch. 
Mazomanie, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
The indigo bird is from five to six 
inches long. The male’s color is indigo 
blue with blackish wings and tail. The 
female is brown. Its nest is made of 
grass, leaves and bark. It lays from 
three to four bluish white eggs. Dur¬ 
ing the nesting period it is found in 
Northern United States. It conies to 
Mazomanie in May and June. It winters 
in Central America. This bird sings all 
summer even through August. The 
male bird becomes brown after the nest¬ 
ing season. 
I remain yours, 
Aged 12. B. Cleveland. 
Mauston, Wis., June 8, 1908. 
Dear Wayside: 
One day as I was working out-of-doors, 
I heard a noise in one of our trees. It 
was a peculiar sound. I looked up into 
the tree but saw nothing. I waited 
awhile and heard the same noise again. 
I looked up and saw a robin in a tree 
sitting on a nest. I watched for a long 
while, and one morning as I was watch¬ 
ing I saw two robins starting to fly from 
their nest. After a while the old mother 
bird came back. She coaxed the little 
ones along with her and they flew away. 
I was sorry that they flew away, for they 
were so cunning. 
Yours truly, 
Mary Klippel. 
Mauston, Wis., June 9, 1908. 
Dear Wayside: 
As I was out on our porch Saturday, I 
saw one of our neighbor boys coming. 
He had a little bird in his hand. He 
said he was going to keep it. I made 
him put it down, and I saw it was a 
young robin. The two old robins were 
over in a tree near the road. I took the 
little robin and put it on a limb of a tree. 
It flew over where the old robins were. 
They brought worms and other food for 
it to eat. Then thev all three flew awav. 
Yours truly, 
Lou Odell. 
