BY THE WAYSIDE 
53 
SCHOOL BRANCH DEPARTMENT 
Every Wisconsin School Branch is required to subscribe for at ieast one copy of BY THE WAYSIDE 
Letters for this department should be written on only 
one side of the page, should gire the name, age and ad¬ 
dress of the writer, and should be mailed by the first of 
the month; Illinois children sending to Miss Juliet 
“Goodrich, 10 Astor St., Chicago, Ill., and Wisconsin 
children to Miss Edna Edwards, 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 
Goodrich or Miss Edwards. 
Any Wisconsin School Branch may, without expense, 
have the use of the Gordon and Merrill Libraries of bird 
books, by applying to Miss Sophia Schaefer, Librarian, 
679 North St., Appleton. 
A set of colored bird slides with a typewritten 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 Mrs. 
Ruthven Deane, 504 N. State St., Chicago. 
WaZvtings. 
One of the two species of Waxwings is 
a bird of the far North; the other our Ce¬ 
dar Waxwing, is found throughout North 
America. Waxwings possess in an un¬ 
usual degree two characteristics which 
are not supposed to be associated—soci¬ 
ability and silence. None of our birds 
are more companionable, none more 
quiet. In their fondness for one an¬ 
other’s society they seem to delay the 
pairing season, and long after other birds 
have gone to housekeeping they are still 
roving about in flocks. Finally, late in 
June, they settle down and build a nest 
of generous proportions, often in some 
fruit tree, about ten feet from the ground. 
The three or five eggs are pale bluish 
gray or pretty-color, spotted with black 
or brownish black. 
Waxwings fly in close rank and alight 
as near each other as the nature of their 
perch will allow. They sit very still 
like little Parrots or Doves, but. often 
raise and lower their crests, and perhaps 
whisper a fine lisping note, which is pro¬ 
longed into a louder call—a string of 
beady notes—as they take wing. 
Their fare varies with the season 
—cedar berries, strawberries, cherries, 
both cultivated and wild, the berries of 
the woodbine, sour gum, and others 
being taken in turn. 
In August the Waxwing shows no 
mean gifts as a flycatcher, while as a 
destroyer of the cankerworm he is especi¬ 
ally beneficial, repaying us with interest 
for the fruit he may have appropriated 
earlier in the season. 
The Waxwing’s wide range and ability 
to withstand great extremes in tempera¬ 
ture are doubtless due to the ease with 
which it adapts itself to a change of fare. 
It nests from Virginia to Labrador, and 
winters from Massachusetts to Costa 
Rica.—Chapman in Bird Life. 
Wisconsin Prize Letter. 
Rhinelander, Wis., Dec. 27, 1906. 
Dear Wayside: 
A verv small bird came here in the 
spring. It is about four and a half 
inches long. It is called a Ruby-crowned 
Kinglet because it has a red spot on its 
crown. It has a gray head; the back is 
olive gray and it is yellowish on the tail. 
The wings are a brownish olive with 
yellow and white edgings. It comes 
here on its way north and stops awhile 
during April and May and when it goes 
south it stays here during September and 
October you sometimes can hear its 
song. Its nests and eggs are seldom 
found. The farmers are glad to have 
them come because they eat the insects. 
The milliners are glad to get the feathers 
to put them on hats. It is wrong to kill 
birds for their feathers. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 11. Constantina Nagel. 
