BY THE WAYSIDE 
51 
Find the Toad! 
When my sister and I were little girls 
attending the country school, we had 
quite a long walk home and used to pick 
up and take quite an interest in various 
things by the roadside. 
One dav we found a toad and, hesitat- 
%/ 
ing to leave him, we tied a string to one 
of his legs and let him hop along by our 
side. Fearing our mother would think 
it cruel to treat little creatures in this 
way, we tied him to a fence-post just out 
of view of our home. 
After tea, we thought we’d go and see 
how our little companion was getting 
along. Lo and behold! What do you 
think we found fastened to the fence-post? 
A great big ugly snake! 
Can the little readers of the Wayside 
tell how the snake got into this unex¬ 
pected predicament? S. S. 
“Wasps, Social and Solitary” is the 
title of a new book bv George \\ . and 
Elizabeth G. Peckham. John Burroughs 
who writes the introduction, says that it 
is a “wonderful record of patient, exact, 
and loving observation which has all the 
interest of a romance.” Part of the ma¬ 
terial has been published before, but this 
has been revised and enlarged. The 
manner in which the results of these 
two observers has been recorded makes 
the book interesting to all nature lovers, 
old and young. Readers of By The 
Wayside will be especially interested to 
know that Mrs. Peckham was formerly 
editor of this paper. The book will be 
found in one of the Audubon circulating 
libraries. 
[We wish to correct a mistake made in 
the December number of By the Way- 
side. The words “of Bird Lore ”, page 
forty-two second column were put in 
inadvertently— Editor.] 
BY THE WAYSI D E 
Published on the tenth of each month except July and 
Angust. 
The official organ of the Wisconsin and Illinois Audu¬ 
bon Societies. 
Twenty-five cents per year. Single Copies 3 cents. 
All communications shonld be sent to Miss Ruth Mar¬ 
shall, Appleton, Wis. 
NATURE STUDY IN SCHOOLS. 
The Literature of Nature Study. 
Continued from last month. 
For identifying flowers, learning of 
their range, time of bloom and now and 
then an interesting bit of information 
about their place in literature, there is 
nothing better than Dana’s i “How to 
Know the Wild Flowers,” or Schuyler 
Mathew’s “Field-book of American Wild 
Flowers.” The latter is a most conven¬ 
ient and enjoyable field companion, in 
handy size, with colored or good black 
and white plates and fine brief descrip¬ 
tions. 
Another book that I must mention in 
connection with plant study is “First 
Studies of Plant Life” by Atkinson. 
This little book has an introduction by 
Mrs. Anna B. Comstock, and contains 
many a good simple experiment that 
may be performed by children. 
Another book of Professor Atkinson’s 
that deserves a place in a nature-study 
list is “Mushrooms, Poisonous, Edible, 
Etc.” 
These are some books that are good 
for every day use, when a teacher knows 
what the outdoor world will furnish for 
each season’s work, and where she can 
find the real things she wants to use; and 
then must add to the knowledge con¬ 
stantly gained through her own senses, 
by turning to the pages of those who 
have specialized along the several lines 
that she must keep in view. 
These books are for the teachers who 
