BY THE WAYSIDE 
71 
interesting little creatures if you only 
watch them. Yours truly, 
Aged 14. Lydia Pfeiffer. 
Green Bay, Wis., Jan. 15, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
The Bluejay makes his nest of twigs 
and roots. He makes his nest in an old 
shaded tree in the center of the woods. 
He makes the nest near the trunk of the 
tree. If you would count the eggs you 
usually find from four to six. In the 
morning at sunrise you will find him at 
the top of a young oak tree. Later in the 
day you will find him in the bushes. In 
the spring he eats lots of insects and that 
makes up for stealing fruit and berries. 
The Bluejay is not fitted for long flights. 
He is one of the commonest birds in 
(• 
America. 
Aged 10. Ruth Guenther. 
— 
Mauston, Wis., Feb. 4, 1909. 
Dear Wavside: 
I have a Mocking Bird at home. It 
came from Oklahoma. Mv cousin who 
%/ 
was down there sent it to me. One day 
while she was out in the country she saw 
the nest. It had three young ones in it. 
She took the nest home and raised the 
birds. 
The Mocking Birds like flies, spiders, 
and worms. There was a lady who had 
had several little ones. She did not 
know what to feed them. She fed them 
bread and milk and killed them. She 
f could not tell what killed them until my 
cousin told her she must not feed them 
bread and milk. 
Our Mocking Bird is about the size.of 
a Bluejay. Its breast is a light color. 
Its back is a dull slate color. It has a 
tail about five inches long, and quite a 
long bill. Its bill is so soft that it has 
to have a special food for it. This bird 
is a female and does not sing much. 
Yours truly, 
Jay Granger. 
Mauston, Wis., February^, 1909. 
De^r Wayside: 
As I was coming to school one morn¬ 
ing, I saw a little gray squirrel running 
along the ground. I watched him to see 
where he was going and he ran up a tree 
nea r by. 
As I was watching him I saw a Hairy 
Woodpecker. He was hopping around 
on the tree picking. His back is black 
with a white stripe down the centre, and 
his wings are black with white spots on 
them. 
One other morning as I was coming 
past Mr. Power's barnyard I saw a Red¬ 
headed Woodpecker. He sat on a fence- 
post and looked at us a few seconds, and 
then would nod his head as if he were 
saying, “How do you do!” 
Yours truly, 
Janie Minor. 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
Biggsville, Ill., Feb. 24, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
There was a heavy snow February 15. 
There was sleet before the snow. We 
thought it would be hard for the little 
birds to find any food so we put up a lit¬ 
tle shelf for a lunch counter just outside 
of the window at school. We tacked a 
piece of beef on the shelf. The next day 
a chickadee lit on a limb of a hickory 
tree about ten feet away from the win¬ 
dow, then it flew on the shelf and ate the 
bread and meat. Three birds ate that 
day, but only one ate at a time. The day 
of the heavy snow a Red-breasted Wood- 
