80 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
Two Rivers, Wis., Jan. 10, 1909. 
Dear Wavside: 
I saw a Blue]ay yesterday and soon 
saw that he was a saucy bird. In the 
winter if you go far enough in the woods 
you will see a company of Bluejays busy 
looking for something to eat. He may 
find a dried berry still clinging to the 
bush on which it grew; oranut that has 
fallen on the spot where the snow has 
not covered it. The Bluejay is always 
dressed in grand style. His crest and 
back are light purple. His wings are 
bright blue, with pretty marks black and 
white His tail is blue with black bars 
across it, and the ends of the long feath¬ 
ers are tipped with white. He has a 
black collar round his neck. His lace is 
white, his bill is black, and his eyes are 
brown. In April Mr. Bluejay helps his 
mate build her nest. They carry fine 
roots* twigs, and stems of dry leaves; and 
put them together till they have a big 
nest. In about five or six days the nest 
is finished. The eggs are of a greemsh- 
orav color with little spots of brown over 
© *■ 
them. . . , A 
The Robin dresses m plain colors, and 
is not as pretty as the Jay: W e love the 
Robin because of his gentle ways and 
his sweet song. Fine feathers will never 
gain friends, but pleasant manners and a 
kind heart will always win esteem. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 12. Carrie Schmidt. 
Mauston, Wisconsin, March 25,. 1909. 
Dear Wayside: . 
One morning while I was coming to 
school I saw on the ground by a hickory 
not tree a Robin, and three Blackbirds 
all together. They were picking up hay 
seed for their breakfast. , . , 
There was a large flock of little birds 
staviiw in our hay barn in the cold 
weather Thevhave a dark brown back, 
an d a black bead, and a little red spot on 
the throat and the breast and stomach is 
white, and two spotted stripes of black 
and white on each side M e do not 
know whether it is a Ruby-crowned 
Kinglet or M arblei. 
About two weeks ago I saw a Meadow¬ 
lark and a Robin. r lhe Robin had a 
beautiful red breast. The Meadowlark 
stays near our barn and he sings from 
daylight until dark. There is a flock of 
Quail that stay with our chickens some 
of the time. 
One morning while I was getting up I 
thought I heard a Baltimore Oriole, but 
it was a Bluebird. 
Acred 13. Herbert Alien. 
© 
Mauston, Wis., March 27, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
March 23rd I saw a flock of Warblers 
up in some trees on the. street going south 
from the depot in front of Brunner’s 
house. I only saw the birds breast which 
was light gray, and the throat was rose- 
colored. Charlotte Stalker sees these 
Warblers almost every time she passes 
the warehouses, and says their backs are 
slate-colored. March 23rd, I saw a flock 
of wild geese flying over Heath’s house 
and going southwest. March 2bth 1 saw 
a flock of wild geese flying over our house 
and I heard them too. I think they were 
the same flock that I saw on March 23rd, 
because these were flying north. 
March 24th Hattie Pierce told us that 
there was a fl >ck of Evening Grosbeaks 
on Fremont street. So I and some other 
girls who had not seen the Grosbeaks 
went down on Fremont street, and in 
front of Schroeder's house we saw a. flock 
of them. They were yellow except on 
the head which had a little black on it, 
and its wings and tail had a little black 
on the tip. Above the black on its 
wings it had some white. 
Among the grosbeaks we saw a bud 
about as big as a Warbler. Its breast 
was a reddish-white and a chestnut color 
on its sides. Its head was black with a 
chestnut color on its crown. Its back 
was slate streaked with black and dark 
brown with white blotches on its tail. I 
think it was a Bay-breasted W arbler. 
Aged 11. Irene Hosig. 
The earliest Warbler is the Myrtle and he 
never gets to Wisconsin before April 13th. 
Most of the Warblers do not get here till 
after the leaves are on the trees.— Ed. 
