B Y THE WA YSIDE 
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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 Miss Juliet Good¬ 
rich, 10 Astor St,, Chicago, Ill , and Wisconsin children 
to Mr. Thos. R. Moyle, 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 original observa¬ 
tions. 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 
Socie'y- costs two cents and may be bought from Miss 
Juliet Goodrich or Mr. Moyle 
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 street 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 « lecture with lantern slides, by applying to E. S. 
Adams, 439 Elm Street, Chicago. 
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This is the season to begin feeding the 
birds. Suet, tied strongly to a limb, is 
one of the best foods. Cracked corn, and 
grain chaff may be scattered about on 
the ground and scraps from the table 
put on a “lunch counter” attached to 
your window-sill or built around your 
school flag pole. 
Mabel Osgood Wright, in her article 
in the School Department of Bird Lore , 
suggests that these lunch counters be 
made of old boards and left unpainted, 
as, she says, new shiny objects frighten 
the birds. 
Instead of telling about any particular 
bird next month I should like you to 
write By The Wayside about what you 
are doing to help them all through the 
winter. 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
Maywood, Ill., Oct., 30, 1904. 
Dear Wayside: 
I saw a bluejay’s nest in the poplar 
tree last spring. It had three eggs in the 
nest. The tree was near my house and 
I fed it all summer. Soon the young 
ones hatched and then I fed the young 
ones. And then I thought I would take 
them in the house to show mamma. So 
I went outside put them in the basket 
and carried them into the house. I put 
them down on the table. I then fed 
them bread and water. Now it was 
noon and I put them in the nest by the 
mother and father. 
Yours truly, 
Edward Kroz. 
Little York, Ill., March, 30, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
I will write you about the bluebird 
which I see even^ morning coming to 
school. The bluebird is a very pretty 
bird for early spring. The male has a 
brighter and more distinct color than 
the female. Its back, head and tail are 
a pretty blue its breast is reddish brown. 
They stav around the school house and 
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fly about the maple and oak trees. And 
sometimes they come and sit on a fence 
post about two rods from the school 
house. They are not in flocks as they 
were in February but are scattered about 
in pairs or sometimes there is only one. 
They are now looking for some hollow 
post or stump in which to build their 
nests. Many thanks for calendar re¬ 
ceived for prize. 
Mabel Johnson. 
Maywood, Ill., Oct., 30,1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
I have been putting feed on our roof 
and the birds are all around the barn 
now and my mother will not let me even 
