BY THE WAYSIDE 
45 
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 
Society, 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 Lioraries 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 a lecture with lantern slides, by applying to E. S. 
Adams, 439 Elm Street, Chicago. 
When the leaves fall in Autumn we are 
usually surprised to see a number of 
nests that we never suspected were there. 
Once in four years men come to our 
houses to take a census, that is to ask 
how many people live there and what 
they do for a living and a great many 
other questions too. Is’nt this the time 
of vear for us to take a bird census? Of 
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course the birds are not here but if we 
know it is Mr. Robin’s house we can 
guess at the size of his family and what 
he did for a living. Wouldn’t it be 
interesting to make a record of all the 
bird’s nests in our block or our neighbor¬ 
hood? In some schools they make maps 
of the neighborhood about their school 
and mark all the bird’s nests. Then we 
could keep the record till next fall and 
find out if more birds live with us next 
summer than did last. And maybe we 
can find out what sort of trees different 
j birds like best. 
Let us study bird’s nests this winter. 
Keep a record of the number you find of 
the different kinds and in what sort of a 
tree or bush or box. 
If you have an encyclopedia that will 
tell what sort of a nest each bird builds. 
The following facts may be of some use. 
Robins, Cedar birds, Grosbeaks, Orioles, 
Kingbirds build in trees. The Robin 
uses mud in building and the Oriole’s 
nest is a hanging one. The Wood Thrush, 
the Brown Thrasher, Catbird, Chipping 
Sparrow build in bushes or low trees. 
The Song Sparrow and Bobolink build on 
the ground, the Bluebird, House Wren, 
Purple Martin build either in boxes or 
holes in trees. 
Mazomanie, Wis., Oct. 29, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
One night I put some crumbs out and 
in the morning the birds had taken them. 
Once I saw a robin that could not fly so 
I picked it up and took it home. I put 
it in a basket with some crumbs of bread. 
In the morning it flew out of the door 
when papa opened the door to go out. 
Afterward I saw some robins in front of 
• • i 
the door. I saw some bluejays come and 
eat the crumbs. I have seen boys shoot 
the sparrows and robing. I told them 
that they were doing wrong to do it. 
But they did not stop it. 
I like the birds. I have seen birds 
hunting for string. We studied about 
the Ruby Crowned Kinglet. I saw his 
picture on the chart with all the birds. 
The woodpecker ever} 7 morning would 
be tapping on the telephone pole. He 
always wakes mamma and papa up early 
in the morning. I have seen swallows 
make their nests in the chimney. I will 
have to close for I cannot think of any 
more. Goodbve. 
Marjorie McKenzie. 
[It is very likely that Miss Marjorie’s 
swallows are chimney swifts.] 
