B Y THE \VA YS1DE 
wouldn’t see him so easily. The mother 
cleans her house the best of all her 
neighbors. 
The birds that I saw this spring are 
the Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue- 
jay, Red-wing Blackbird, Meadowlark, 
Robin, Junco, Seagull, and the King¬ 
fisher. 
The Juncos were hopping around the 
schoolyard to-day. I think they were 
hunting for food. One day we put 
some crumbs on the fence post, and the 
next morning they were gone. 
Aged 11. Eddie Jockimstal. 
Cullom, Ill., April 14, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
I am thirteen years old and I am will¬ 
ing to protect the wild birds as they fly 
from tree to tree. As I was going up 
town last night I heard a bird singing. 
I looked up and saw a Robin in a tree 
by a nest. I stopped to see what it 
would do. I do not know if the nest was 
. 
an old one or not but the Robin soon 
flew away. I have noticed that if you 
spread crumbs on the ground for them 
to eat how glad they are to get them and 
how happy they seem to be. 
Last night I got a can and put water 
in it for them to drink, and I am going 
to build houses for them so they will 
* 
stay around. 
Nellie Whitaker. 
Mishicot, Wis., April 29, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
One morning when I was in the school- 
yard, I saw a White-breasted Nuthatch. 
I was watching it for awhile, and 
another one came flying along very 
swiftly. They were not afraid of me, 
but were picking on the trees and eating 
insects for their food. In summer when 
the insects are plentiful it eats t-h OU- 
tf i 
sands of them. Its claws are almost 
like hooks. He grasps a tight hold in 
the little rough places in the bark, and 
that is why he can creep on the trees 
with his head downward. 
I watched the birds closely, and saw 
that they had a bill that was long and 
sharp. They had a dress in light blue 
and white on the back, with a white 
breast and throat, a black collar and 
cap, and black on wings and tail. They 
made a funny noise when they called, 
something like “quank, quank.” 
Aged 11. Ernest Strouf. 
Gladstone, Ill., April 28, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
Last week we saw two birds a little 
smaller than an English Sparrow. They 
were on a branch of an oak tree. They 
would hunt for insects on the limbs, 
then fly out in the air, catch a bug in 
its bill, and fly back to the same limb. 
It moves about very quickly, It gives 
a sharp, quick call several times when 
it is feeding in a tree. It is a pretty 
bird. We think it is a Myrtle Warbler. 
It is a grayish bird with yellow on the 
head and by the wings, and where the 
tail joins the body. There is some 
white near the throat and when it dies 
you can see some white in its tail. We 
have seen it nearly every morning for a 
week. 
Aged 12. Viola McClinton. 
Gladstone, Ill., April 28, 1909. 
Dear Wayside: 
On Friday, April 15, we saw a little 
grayish brown bird dying about the 
branches in the hickory trees. It was 
very small and moved about all the 
time. It was never still. It has a little 
sharp bill, and has two bars of white on 
each wing. Another day one had a lit- 
