feV THE WAYSIDE. 
Si 
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. Win. M. 
Scudder, 165 Buena Ave., Chicago, Ill., and Wisconsin 
children to Mrs. Peck ham, 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 Merrill Library of bird books, by 
applying to Miss Bossert, Librarian, 719 Franklin 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. 
Kuthven Deane, 504 N. State St., Chicago. 
~ - - 
Herring Gull. 
Length, 24 inches. Adult, back and wings 
pearl gray; end of primaries marked with 
black; rest of plumage white. Young, dark 
grayish; primaries and tail brownish black. 
Nest, on rocks or in trees, made mainly of 
grass, seaweed and earth. E'ggs, usually 
three, from pale olive drab to greenish or 
bluish white, spotted with blue, yellow or 
brown. 
This is the most common gull along the 
, shores of Lake Michigan the smaller species 
often seen with it being the Bonaparte. It has 
wonderful powers of flight, and is said to 
occasionally follows vessels across the Atlantic. 
Gulls do excellent service in devouring refuse 
which would otherwise be cast ashore to decay, 
but their greatest claim to our protecting care 
S is their beauty. They are a source of pleasure 
to thousands of people every day in cities like 
[ Milwaukee, where they cross from the lake to 
the river to feed. Even in the coldest weather 
there are always lingering groups on the 
bridges watching the familiar but fascinating 
spectacle of these great fearless birds, with 
their delicate coloring and graceful motion, as 
they swoop and circle and float close at hand. 
As they breed in the northern part of Wiscon¬ 
sin some of our enterprising Audubon children 
may be able to tell us about their nesting 
habits. 
Vernon Bailey says that in the prairie coun¬ 
try the Franklin gull, which is occasionally 
seen in Wisconsin, is of the greatest economic 
importance, the immense flocks living mostly 
on grasshoppers and other destructive insects. 
At times a white horde will descend upon a 
ploughed field, a band of them following at 
the heels of a ploughfnan, while long white 
lines follow the mellow furrows. Recognizing 
the ploughman as a friend the birds get out 
of his way only to let him pass, waiting for 
him to turn up a fresh supply of food. In 
Utah their services are so well appreciated that 
Brigham Young used to offer up prayers that 
they be sent to destroy the grasshoppers. One 
may often see a flock of from fifty to five hun¬ 
dred catching grasshoppers on the wing, wheel¬ 
ing, diving and rising until at a distance they 
suggest a wild flurry of snow flakes. 
Letters about the gull should be mailed by 
April 1st. 
Prizes and Badges. 
The honor badges for February are awarded 
to Joe Rich, Illinois, and Leo Egelberg, Wis¬ 
consin. A year’s subscription to Bird-Lore 
is given to William Schneider, 415 North 
Twelfth St., La Crosse, for his study of birds 
in January. This prize is given with every 
number of The Wayside for the best study of 
birds during the preceding month, the com¬ 
petition being open to teachers and children. 
Secretary’s Letter. 
Dear Children. —We are having such a cold 
snowy winter I hope you are all putting out 
something for the little birds to eat. 
1 read a little story the other day that I 
think will interest you and show you how the 
birds try to look out for and help each other. 
One cold morning a gentleman walking along 
a road heard a great commotion in a maple 
tree near bj^ and upon investigating found 
that a little English sparrow had caughT his 
tail feathers in a crevice of the bark and was 
hanging head downwards, very securely fastened 
by his tail, while a dozen or more friendly 
sparrows were chirping and fluttering about 
him. 
