BY THE WAYSIDE 
21 
SCHOOL BRANCH DEPARTMENT 
Every Wisconsin School Branch is required to subscribe for at least one copy of BY THE WAYSIDE. 
Letters for this department should be written on only 
one side of the page, should give the name, age and ad¬ 
dress of the writer, and should be mailed by the first of 
the mouth; Illinois children sending to Miss Ethel E. 
Hooper. 541 N. State St,, Chicago, Ill., and Wisconsin 
children to Miss Ruth Marshall, Appleton, Wis. An 
honor badge will be awarded for each state every month 
preference being given to letters about the bird study 
for the month (which is always on this page) and to or¬ 
iginal observations. Any child who wins the honor 
badge twice will receive By The Wayside one year as a 
prize. 
The wren button, which is the badge of the Audubon 
Society, costs two cents, and may be bought from Miss 
Hooper or Miss Marshall. 
Any Wisconsin School Branch may, without expense, 
have the use of the Gordon and Merrill Libraries of bird 
books, by applying to Miss Edna Edwards. Librarian, 
846 Prospect St.. Appleton. 
A set of colored bird slides with a typewriter lecture 
may be rented from Prof. W. S. Marshall, 114 E. Gorham 
Street, Madison, Wis. 
Illinois Schools, may use. without expense, a library 
or a lecture with lantern slides, by applying to Mrs. 
Ruthven Deane, 504 N. State St., Chicago. 
Whip-poor-will. 
Male. Upper parts streaked with 
black, the head finely mottled with black 
and white, the back mottled with ochra- 
ceous-buff and black; primaries black, 
with broken rufous bars; tail irregularly 
barred with black and mottled with 
whitish- or cream-buff; end half of three 
outer feathers white; black on the outer 
vane of the outer feather extending far- v 
ther down than on the others; throat and 
breast blackish, finely mottled with 
cream-buff or ochraceous-buff; a narrow 
white band across the upper breast; belly 
cream buff, irregularly barred with black¬ 
ish; base of the bill beset with long-stiff¬ 
ened bristles, which are without hairlike 
branches. 
Range. Eastern North America, north 
to New Brunswick and Manitoba; winters 
from Florida southward. 
Eggs, two, laid on the ground or leaves, 
in woods or thickets; dull white, with 
delicate, obscure lilac markings and a 
few distinct brownish gray spots. 
In walking through a rather densely 
grown woods I have sometimes been sur¬ 
prised by having a Whip-poor-will fly up 
from beneath my feet and disappear in 
thesurroundinggrowth. I say surprised, 
because the bird’s flight is as noiseless aS 
a moth’s, and this unusual ghostly silence 
is almost as startling as the whir of a 
grouse. The Whip-poor-will’s day begin 
when the sun does down. Then he 
passes out into the bushy fields near his 
home, and, flying low. catches his supper 
on the wing. Between courses he rests 
on some low perch, and gives utterance 
to the notes familiar to many who have 
never seen their author. Whip-poor-will, 
whip-poor-will , he calls, rapidly and with 
unexpected snap and vigor. If one is 
quite near the singer, a preliminary chuck 
may be heard before each call. These 
notes are given for about two hours after 
sunset and a short time before sunrise.— 
Chapman, Handbook of Birds. 
How many Wayside boys and girls 
have heard the Whip-poor-will this sum¬ 
mer? And has anyone been lucky 
enough to see it, or its nest? Send in 
your letters by Oct. 1. 
The Bluebird. 
La Crosse, Wis., April 8, 1905. 
Dear Wayside: 
The color of the top of the bluebird is 
of a sky blue, the throat and breast are 
reddish chestnut and the belly white. 
The eggs of the bird are bluish-white. 
It is one of the first birds in the spring. 
The call of this bird in the autumn is 
“far-away, far-away.” Early in April it 
builds its nest in old bird boxes or in 
hollow trees. This bird is a little smaller 
than the robin. 
Last summer we were out in the ceme¬ 
tery and we came to a hollow tree where 
a bluebird had its nest. We first saw 
the mother bird fly out of the nest, and 
then we looked in. There we saw five 
eggs on some straw. Its length is about 
seven inches. Yours truly, 
Frances Egbert. 
