BY THE WAYSIDE 
13 
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 Mary Drum¬ 
mond, 208 West St,, Wheaton, 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 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 
Mary Drummond or Miss Edwards 
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. 
Black-billed Cuckoo. 
This morning I saw a cuckoo in one of 
our trees and decided that he should be 
the bird of the month. It was about 
eleven inches long and was of a beauti¬ 
ful brownish color on the back while its 
breast was white. Its beak was long and 
black. Its head was set close to its body 
The tail was long with white spots. We 
have heard its sad call for a number of 
days but have not been able to locate it 
before. In some places it is called the rain 
crow for it is heard on dark or rainy days. 
When we speak of cuckoo we at once 
think of the English bird, but in this 
country they are quite different. Their 
nests are very carelessly made, only a few 
sticks laid in a bush. The only one I 
ever saw was so loose that it seemed as 
if the young birds had hard work to keep 
in. Listen, and some cloudy day you 
will hear u kow-kow-kow! kuk-kuld” then 
follow tne sound and you will find this 
beautiful bird. 
Bird Club. 
Hugh Lewis, of Antigo, writes of a Bird 
Lovers’Club he has organized. He is 
ten vears old and is the treasurer. There 
J 
are two honorary members. At the 
meetings each child pays one penny and 
all the money they can raise is to go for 
a cement drinking basin to be put into 
the court house yard for the birds. I 
wish the children in other places could 
take up such work through the summer. 
WONT YOU COME IN? 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
Evanston, Ill., May 21, 1908. 
Dear Wayside: 
A few days ago I saw a very bright- 
colored bird, which I learned was the 
redstart. Its head and neck were shiny 
black. It was about five and one-half 
inches long. I have never seen so many 
birds in a town as there are here. One 
day I asked my mother to come to the 
window. There was a female redstart on 
our fence. It would dash this way and 
then that spreading its wings and show¬ 
ing two yellow spots on each side. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 11. Alfred Redfield. 
Prize Letter for 'May Number. 
Maywood, Ill. 
Dear Wayside: 
I saw the indigo bunting on the 28th 
of April. It had a piece of straw in its 
mouth. It flew into a bush. 
The male is blue and a dark gray. 
The female is a checked brown so when 
it is on the nest the people cannot see it. 
