70 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
glimpse of him. At the same time I saw 
two Evening Grosbeaks. The male is 
bright yellow. The female is dull colored. 
They were swinging away on a twig try¬ 
ing to get seeds. 
One day two years ago as I was watch¬ 
ing the ice float down the river, I saw, 
riding on a piece of ice, a white Sea-gull. 
My letter is getting long The next 
time I write I will tell you more about 
our birds. 
Yours trulv, 
%! 
Aged 10. Arthur Cole. 
Wisconsin Prize Letter. 
Mauston, Wisconsin, Feb. 5, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
I live out in the country. My house 
is at the foot of Mile Bluff. There are 
woods part of the way to Mauston, and 
meadows on each side of the road the 
other part of the way. 
One morning as I was coming to school 
I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It was a 
little bird and it ran along in front of 
me. It had a bright red spot on top of 
its head. I could almost catch it because 
it was so tame. After a little while, it 
flew up in a tree on the bluff. 
One day our teacher called our atten¬ 
tion to a small bird running along on the 
ground by the side of the school house. 
There was another one on the trunk of a 
tree. It had a little black on its head 
and the back of its neck. It had a white 
breast, and the white extended up above 
its eves until it met the black. Its back 
was blue and it had quite a long bill. 
They were picking up seeds. This bird 
was a Nuthatch. One of my friends said 
he saw some Evening Grosbeaks in the 
courtyard. It was that stormy night, 
January twenty-ninth. They were pick¬ 
ing berries off from the basswood trees. 
Your interested friend, 
Charlotte Stalker. 
Mauston, Wis., Feb. 4, 1997. 
Dear Wayside: 
I live by the river and our yard has an 
arbor-vitae hedge around it. There are 
little blue berries on the hedge and the 
birds like to eat them. One Sunday a 
flock of Evening Grosbeaks were in the 
hedge. They have black on the top of 
their heads and are quite dark around 
their necks. I saw them December first. 
They have black on their tails and wings. 
The rest of the bird is yellow. 
Another day a flock of Cedar Wax- 
wings were in the hedge. They were 
looking for the berries, but the Evening 
Grosbeaks had eaten them. The Cedar 
Waxwing has a topknot on its head and 
a black stripe through the eyes to the 
nose. It is brown on the back and head. 
The wings and tail are gray. There is a 
little red on the wings and the tip of their 
tails have a yellow edge. It was melting 
that day and water was on the ground. 
When the Cedar Waxwings were drink- 
ins, t’nev looked so cute. Then they flew 
away. I saw them January twenty- 
fourth. Yours truly, 
Marie Miller. 
Franklin, Wis., Feb. 16, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
Snow covered the ground and the little 
birds could not get any food. I went out 
and put some meat on the sidewalk 
for them. Not long after I went out 
to fetch a pail of water when I saw two 
or three Snowflakes eating at it. 
I never found so much interest in 
birds as I did this year. The birds are 
