Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-03-13
What I Know About Birds
Mary GOnterman,
of EldOn

Dear Junior: Before | begin my
story of what / know about birds
want to thank you for my beautiful
book l received for the Thanksgiving
prize. My teacher read it to our
school at County Line and l like it
ever so much.
l will begin with the robin, who
comes with the approach of spring to
build his nest and sing of sunshine
and flowers. He always seems so
happy. He belongs to the thrush
family, of which the hooking bird,
cat bird and brown thrush are mem
bers. For months he feeds on
cherries, strawberries, and other fruit,
but he also destroys insects, and is
indeed blessing to the farmer. The
robins build nests in our grape arbor
every year, and l love to hear them
sing. l sometimes peek in their nests
at the eggs and the little robins.
The blue jay is rather a saucy fell
lew He steals all my mammas
cherries and you can't drive them
away. They don't care for scare
crows either They fly all around you
and scold He Is a very noisy bird
and delights in robbing other birds.
He builds his nest in an old thick
tree, and he builds it of roots, tw1gs,
grasses, hair and mud, and then lines
it with soft lining.
The owl is a very sleepy bird in the
daytime, for he prowls around all
night and catches his mice, beetles
and many other things that annoy the
farmer. The light hurts his eyes, so
all day long he sits on the limb OF
some large tree and passers through
the woods can hear him hoo, hoo, hoo,
hoo. I don't like to hear the screen
owls for they sound so scarey ike.
The owl has no gizzard and differs
from other birds. If you ever have
the opportunity just look for the
owls ears and they will surprise you.
They did me. Papa catches one once
in while and it Is fun to play with
them.
The red bird, or cardinal, is very
beautiful bird. | saw one two weeks
ago while with mamma going to ba-
tavia. We had just crossed ROCK
creek and up in tree sat a beautlfui
red bird Early in May she begins to
prepare her nest and raise her young:
She builds her nest in bush OF
small twigs and bits of bark and dog
fannal and lines it with soft grass.
This bird stays with us the year
around except in the far northern
states.
The English sparrow is a very
small bird but does his part. he
helps the farmer to keep the bugs
and worms out of his orchards, and
becomes very tame. They build their
nests in a corner of building, OF
feathers and grass, and are often
times seen eating and drinking with
the fowls of the barnyard.
The white nuthatch is often called
sapsucker, but the bird does not suck
sap from the trees, but picks off the
dead bark and gets, the grubs hidden
beneath the bark. He is pretty
bird with a black and white spotted
breast and a black head with a red
top-not. The nest Of this little fellow
is found in the decayed trunks Of the
trees. Their tails are short and
never touch the trees unless they are
suddenly frightened. They are very
busy little birds and not still
second.
Well, as my account Of the farmers
little friends is getting rather long
will close. Thanking you again for
my other prize, I am,
A Junior,
Mary Gonterman, aged II.
R. F. D. No. 1, Box 81, Eldon, Iowa.