BY THE WAYSIDE. 
49 
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 month, Illinois Children sending to Mrs. Wm. M. 
•Scudder, 165 Buena Ave., Chicago, Ill., and Wisconsin 
children to Mrs. Peckliam, 646 Marshall St., Milwaukee, 
Wis. An honor badge will be awarded for each state 
every month, preference being given to letters about the 
bird for the month (which is always on this page), and 
to original observations. Any child who wins the honor 
badge twice will receive a bird book as a prize. 
The wren button, which is the badge of the Audubon 
Society, costs one cent, and may be bought from Mrs. 
Scudder or Mrs. Peckham. 
Any Wisconsin School Branch may, without expense, 
have the use of the Gordon and Merrill Libraries of bird 
books, by applyingto Miss Bossert, Librarian,719 Frank¬ 
lin St., Milwaukee. 
A set of colored bird slides with a type-written lecture 
may be rented from Prof. W. S. Marshall, 114 E. Gorham 
St., 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. 
| , 
The Ruby=Throated Humming Bird. 
Adult male, upper parts bright green; throat,metallic 
ruby red. Female and young, similar, but without red 
on throat. Length, about ' 6 % inches. 
The Ruby-throat is the only representative 
of the large family of hummingbirds that is 
found in Eastern North America, its range 
extending from Florida to Labrador, and from 
the Atlantic to the Plains. It arrives in Mil¬ 
waukee about May fifteenth and becomes 
abundant when the horse chestnut trees are 
in full bloom. At this time we see the fairy 
creature among the beds of flowers, poising 
itself in the air for several seconds, with a 
humming noise made by the rapid motion of 
its wings, thrusting its long bill into the 
flowers in search, not only of nectar, but 
of tiny insects, and then suddenly darting off 
with a rapidity so great that the eye cannot 
follow it. It flies forward and backward and to 
the side with equal ease and dexterity. It does 
not remain on the wing long at a time, but 
frequently takes a short rest, choosing for 
this purpose, usually, a small twig at the ex¬ 
tremity of a tree or shrub. 
The nest of the hummingbird is, like its 
builder, the smallest of its kind, a thimble of 
plant-down coated with delicate green lichen, 
formed and decorated with wonderful skill, 
and saddled so dexterously to a bough that 
it would seem but a part of the tree itself. 
When the eggs are first laid their shells are so 
thin as to be almost transparent, and when 
the young come out of the little white pearls 
it seems a seven days’ marvel that such mites 
can ever become birds. The hummer feeds the 
young by regargitation, plunging her needle¬ 
like bill into their tiny throats—“a frightful- 
looking act,” as Mr. Torrey says. When the 
brood is ready to leave the nest her anxiety 
becomes so great that her nerves quite get the 
better of her. One mother bird Mr. Torrey 
was watching at such a time went so far as 
to leave her tree and fly tempestuously at un 
innocent sparrow, driving him well out of the 
tomato patch. 
While the mother is so devotedly caring for 
her little ones, what is the father doing? That 
seems to be the question. Out of fifty nests 
reported to Mr. Torrey only two were favored 
by the presence of the male, as far as the 
evidence went. Here certainly is a mystery 
worth clearing up. Such conduct must not 
pass unchallenged. Let each field student hie 
forth with glass and book, and wrest from these 
unnatural Benedicts full accounts of them¬ 
selves .—From Henry Nehrling and Mrs. Bailey. 
Letters about the Hummingbird should oe 
mailed by December 1. 
Prizes and Badges. 
The honor badges for September are awarded 
to Hattie Davis, Necedah, Wis., and Pauline 
Sulis, Tinley Park, Ill. 
A subscription to Bird-Lore for one year 
is given to De Wayne Fisher for the best ac¬ 
count of what the birds are doing in Septem¬ 
ber. 
Letters have been received from John Davis, 
Agathe Desbouillons, Andre Fisher, Clarence 
Sutton, Elsie and Anna Burns, Frank and 
Ettie Fuse, Wilson and Rosco Van Meter, Har¬ 
ry and Mabel Sawin, James and Nellie Pratt, 
Freda Fisher, Bert and Annie Williams, and 
Ray Burns. 
Four copies of Bird-Lore’s Bird Chart will 
be given away this month to Wisconsin School 
Branches, upon request of teachers. On the 
first of each month a subscription to Bird-Lore 
is awarded for the best study of birds during 
the preceding month. This competition is 
open to teachers and children. 
