76 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
Published on the tenth of each month except July and 
August. 
The official organ of the Wisconsin and Illinois Audu¬ 
bon Societies. _ . 
Twenty=five cents per year. Single Copies 5 cents 
All communications should be sent to Mr. T. R. Mo,\le, 
Appleton, Wis. 
A Capable President. 
Mr. Keatnor, an eminent British nat¬ 
uralist, delivered himself of a glowing 
tribute to President Roosevelt’s knowl¬ 
edge of bird life. 
“The ruler of the United States,” as Mr. 
Keatnor styles him, gave him “the great¬ 
est ornithological treat ’ he had ever en¬ 
joyed. As the journey progressed thru 
dripping undergrowth and over marshy 
ground from the haunts of the phoehe 
and cardinal to the fishing grounds of 
the halvcon, the naturalist was aston¬ 
ished and charmed bv the lore ol his 
host. Possibly if Mr. Keatnor had made 
a full confession we should learn that he 
was duly impressed by the president’s 
physical ability and slightly fatigued 
perhaps. 
On the cover of the March Bird-Lore 
is a photograph of a quail perching upon 
the head of a cat. Both seem to feel 
verv comfortable. The owner of "them 
savs thev have been warm friends for 
•/ v 
almost a year. 
A collection of bird skins or, even bet¬ 
ter, of mounted birds, is very valuable to 
a school as a help to identification of 
birds and as an aid in arousing interest. 
Any school may have such a collection 
at very little cost. It does not require 
great skill to prepare a bird skin very 
acceptably. As for > e s only let 
the children know they are wanted and 
every dead bird found will be placed in 
your hands. And tragedies among the 
citizens of the air are frequent; especially 
during the migration period is this true. 
The following is taken from an article 
in a recent newspaper. Let us be thank¬ 
ful for the innovation even tho the motive 
displayed is not the most commendable: 
“Straw trimmings are another feature 
of the season, and the disciples of Audu¬ 
bon may safely rejoice that madame has 
found a substitute for the beautiful 
aigrette, the fairy feather that pleased 
mi-lady so much that her desires have 
cost many millions of herons their lives. 
It is the price, not humanity, that has 
saved the unhappy birds this season; for 
in getting the aigrettes, most all the 
birds have been wiped from the face of 
the earth, and the few aigrettes on sale 
are so expensive that even Mrs. Money¬ 
bags can hardly afford such a luxury. 
“However, the straw imitations are 
pretty, airy and practical, while they 
have been made up in every imaginable 
shade and color.” 
NATURE STUDY DEPARTMENT 
Tadpoles. 
Continued from page 76. 
toad or frog tadpole should be followed 
in the same way until the adult form is 
reached. Do you know what enemies 
they have? What do you think of the 
possibilities of this study of life histories 
for children. Return the animals to the 
ponds when the study is completed. 
R. M. 
