BY THE WAYSIDE 
(JO 
BY THE WAYSI DE 
Published on the teuth of each month except July and 
August. 
The official organ of the Wisconsin and Illinois Audu- 
bou Societies. 
Twenty=five cent* per year. Single Copies 3 cents. 
All communications should be sent to Miss Ruth Mar¬ 
shall. Appleton, M is.__ _ 
Winter Picnics. 
"A picnic ! Why, you must be crazy !” 
was the exclamation of more than one of 
our friends as we sallied forth on a.bright 
cold dav in November, well provided 
with eatables and the necessary tools, 
to lunch down river. Our October ex¬ 
cursions had been looked upon as rather 
unusual, to be sure, but yet perfectly 
proper and sane. But in November! 
who ever heard of such a thing in Wis¬ 
consin? Therefore we must be very 
peculiar individuals, to put it mildly. 
But why not? Do we love our friends 
only in the pleasant days, to forget them 
when trials come ? It is easy to seek 
Nature in spring; even the business man 
and the housekeeper, engrossed in the 
cares of the world and of men, turn to 
Mother Nature then. But the ardent 
over of the out-of-doors does not forget 
her ever, and finds her as stimulating, as 
quieting to tired nerves and anxious 
mind in winter as in summer,—her chang¬ 
ing aspects a never-ending source of 
pleasure. To watch a year through, one 
must not give up rambles when frost 
comes. And so we resolved to meet 
Dame Nature socially, as it were, at least 
once a week throughout the year. 
Things to eat are not absolutely neces¬ 
sary for a long tramp; but they add some¬ 
thing to the pleasure of it when they are 
accompanied bv a bon-fire,—a big, roar¬ 
ing fire of old twigs and drift wood, a fire 
to warm oneself by as well as to make 
the pot boil. One can then with safety 
stop walking to rest a bit without danger 
of catching cold. And if we sometimes* 
got wet feet or burned fingers, what mat¬ 
tered it? - t 
We did not insist on walking the en¬ 
tire distance on our excursions,-—we were 
not above taking the trolley-car, and 
once we condescended to accept a farm¬ 
er’s invitation to ride on his bob-sleds— 
just so we got out of doors fora few hours. 
What did we find? Why'" nothing in 
particular,—sometimes a bird or a cocoon 
or a deserted nest. Yes, some things we 
were always sure of finding, fresh bracing 
air, tired muscles, big ’appetites, and a 
saner and more optimistic view of' life. 
Is it not worth something' to have the 
cobwebs brushed out ofthOmiOd? These 
things we found, and we could afford to 
listen complacently to the remarks of our 
friends. 
>:::■! 
R. M. 
The following estimate, copied from 
“Countrv Life in America” was made bv 
; \.j; 
the United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture and represents the annual loss to" 
our farming products through the attacks 5 
of insects.- Any decrease of the birds, 
who destroy millions of these dangerous 
pests each season, would cause a greater - 
loss to the farmer. : *'rv 
Yearly Loss Caused by Insects. 
'-'S'' ' - ' i t S 
Products Annual Per Amount 
Value Cent. of Loss 
Cereals..,..,.. $2,$00,000 000 10 $200,000,000 
Hav. 1 . 530,000,b00 10 53,000,000 
Cotton. 000.000,000 10 0,000,0000 
Tobacco.... j 53,000,000 10 5,300,000 
Truck crops. 2(>5,"0O,0OO 20 53,000,000 
Sugars.. 50,000,000 10 5,(-00,0(0 
Fruits 135,QUO,000 20 27 000.000 
Farm forests. 110,000,000 10 11,000,(00 
Miscellaneous crops 58.000,000 10 5.800,000 
Animal products 1,750 000,000 10 175,000,000 
Total. $5,551,000,000 $595,100,000 
Natural forestsand forest products 100,0 f 0,000 
Products in storage. 100,000,000 
Grand total.$795,100,(00 
