BY THE WAYSIDE 
5 
SCHOOL BRANCH 
Every Wisconsin School Branch is required to subscribe 
Letters for this department should be written on 
onlj one side of the page, should give the name, age 
andaddress ofthe writer, and should bemailed by the 
first of the month; Illinois Children sending to Miss 
Ethel E. Hooper, 541 N. State St., Chicago, Ill., and 
Wisconsin Children to Miss Ruth Marshall, Appleton 
Wisconsin. 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 original observations. 
Any child who wirs the honor badge twice will re¬ 
ceive By The Wayside one year as a prize. 
The wren button, which is the badge of the Audu' 
bon Society, costs two cents, and may be bought 
from Miss Hooper or Miss Marshall. 
Any Wisconsin School Branch may, without ex' 
pense, have the use of the Gordon and Merrill Lib¬ 
raries of bird books, by applying to Miss Edna 
Edwards, Librarian, 846 Prospect St., Appleton. 
A set of colored bird slides with a typewriter lec" 
ture may be rented from Prof. W. S. Marshall, 114 
E. Gorham Street, Madison, Wis. 
Illinois Schools may use. without expense, a libr¬ 
ary or a lecture with lantern slides, by applying to 
Mrs. Ruthven Deane, 504 N. State St., Chicago. 
BIRD FOR THE MONTH. 
Baltimore Oriole. 
Length—7-8 inches. 
Male—Head, throat, upper part of back, 
glossy black; wings black, with white spots 
and edgings; tail quills black, with yellow 
markings on the tips; everywhere else orange 
shading into black. 
Female—Yellowish olive; wings dark brown; 
quills black; tail yellowish brown, with- 
——— dusky bars. 
Our Baltimore oriole is a worthy represen¬ 
tative of a group remarkable for its high col¬ 
ors. On account of its wearing the colors of 
Lord Baltimor’s livery, range and black, the 
bird’s name comes—the Baltimore oriole, (Fire 
Bud, Golden Robin, Hang Nest) winters in Cen¬ 
tral America and in the spring reaches the 
latitude of New York city about May 1st. To 
the charm of beauty it adds the attraction of 
song, a rich, ringing whistle, wich can be 
more or less successfully imitated, when the 
bird immediately responds, challenging the 
supposed trespasses on his domain. 
The nest is a bag about 5 inches deep and 3 
inches in diameter, woven of plant fibres, 
thread, etc., and suspended from the terminal 
pasition of a limb, generally of an elm tree. 
The four to six eggs are white, singularly 
serayled with fine black lines and a few spots 
or blotches.—Bird Life, Chapman. 
Letters about the Baltimore oriole should be 
sent to the secretries by June 1. 
DEPARTMENT 
for at least one copy of BY THE WAYSIDE 
The School Audubon Societies. 
Many inquiries came to the secretary from 
teachers in regard to the formation of the 
school branches of the Audubon society. The 
Wayside is glad to print again the simple di¬ 
rections for the organization. 
Tlie teacher who is alive to the subject of 
birds will take the happy moment after the 
children have been led up to the subject, and 
are thoroughly interested in birds, to ask 
“How many would like to form a bird club? 5 ' 
If there is a hearty response, the teacher will 
take a little time in school or after, to explain 
the objects of the Audubon society. Then 
those who wish to will sign a paper promising 
to cherish and protect wild birds and their 
nests, and to avoid, in especial, these four 
things, killing birds, robbing nests, collecting 
eggs, wearing the plumage of wild birds. 
Enrollment blanks will be sent free on ap¬ 
plication to the secretary and also the so¬ 
ciety’s literature where it is called for. If the 
children desire—and they usually do—they 
get the Audubon buttons at two cents each. 
o 
Every school branch is expected to subscribe for 
at least one copy of By the Wayside, at 
twenty-five cents a year, a merely nominal 
price. The money may be collected from the 
children, or, when there is difficulty in getting 
it. the paper will be sent free at the request 
of the teacher. The enrollment, the money 
for the Wayside and for the buttons if they 
are desired, is now sent to the secretary. A 
notice of each organization is given in the 
School Branch Department, which aims to be 
the organ of these societies. 
After the society is started the teacher 
should try to keep alive the bird study move¬ 
ment by talks and by excursions with the 
children. It is suggested that emphasis should 
be laid on bird protection and the value of 
birds to man. The teacher who is enthusias¬ 
tic will have no trouble in finding work for the 
society. There are printed from time to 
time in these columns notes of the work of 
these school branch societies. 
My Dear Wayside Friends: : 
I ha ve just been staying in a small village in 
Western Illinois on the Rock river called 
Grand Detour. There is a pleasant old inn 
