96 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
TO A WATER-FOWL. 
Whither, midst falling dew, 
While glow the heavens with the last 
steps of day, 
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou 
pursue 
Thy solitary way? 
Vainly the fowler's eye 
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee 
wrong, 
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky, 
Thy figure floats along. 
Seek’st thou the plashy brink 
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, 
Or where the rocking billows rise and 
sink 
On the chafed ocean-side? 
There is a Power whose care 
Teaches thy way along that pathless 
coast— 
Fhe desert and illimitable air— 
Lone wandering, but not lost. 
All day thy wings have fanned, 
At that far height, the cold, thin atmos¬ 
phere, 
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome 
land, 
Though the dark night is near. 
And soon that toil shall end; 
Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and 
rest, 
And scream among thy fellows; reeds 
shall bend, 
Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest. 
d lion rt gone, the abyss of heaven 
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on 
my heart 
Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast 
given, 
And shall not soon depart. 
He who, from zone to zone, 
Guides through the boundless sky thy 
certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone, 
Will lead my steps aright. 
— William Cullen Bryant. 
Shumway, Ill., April 21, 191L 
Dear Wayside :— 
Our class is greatly interested in the 
study of bird's, and we are trying to get 
the pupils of the sixth grade to join 
the “Junior Branch of the Audubon So¬ 
ciety,” so that we can work together 
to protect the birds. 
We cannot realize how many tragedies 
take place among the birds. And many 
of them are victims of death. Many of 
the boys enjoy robbing them of their 
eggs or killing them or their young be¬ 
cause they know nothing of the birds 
grieving over their loss. Last evening I 
set a pan of water out of doors for 
them to drink from. In the morning I 
saw a robin fly down and drink from it, 
then it flew away. 
I also saw robins come from the 
South, and some flew into our cherry 
tre and built a nest there. 
Idle other day I saw a great many 
birds around our home, including the 
bluebird, red bird, robin, ruby, crowned 
knight, and mocking bird. I was look¬ 
ing about to see if I could see any other 
of the birds returning from the south. 
A gray bird was sitting on one of our 
maple trees and singing very sweetly, 
the suddenly flew away. Can one of the 
readers of Tiie Wayside tell me what its 
name is? To my delight I found a nest 
in one of the trees, with three eggs in 
it. 
I have noticed that a few thrushes 
have also returned from the south. I 
am going to have a bird-house built, 
and see if any birds build nests near or 
in it. I hope I will succeed. I am, 
Yours respectfully, 
Anna Lautenslager. 
