60 
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 Thos. R. Moyle, 
Appleton, Wis. 
All who are interested in birds should 
know of the bill up before the Wisconsin 
legislature to permit the shooting of 
water fowl in the spring. 
Not only bird-lovers, but far-sighted 
sportsmen* should actively oppose this 
measure. A spring season cannot help 
but interfere with the mating and nesting 
season. No one can advance an argu¬ 
ment to support the repeal of the pro¬ 
hibition of spring shooting. The onlv 
excuse seems to be that neighboring 
states, notably Illinois, allow spring 
shooting, and therefore Wisconsin sports¬ 
men should have their share of the rap¬ 
idly decreasing ducks. But just because 
Illinois is wrong is no reason why Wis¬ 
consin should be. Then, ducks nest in 
the north of Wisconsin much more than 
in Illinois. 
- .i 
The spirit that moves shooters to ask 
spring shooting ir the same as that which 
has made a barren waste of Wisconsin’s 
forests,—a blind disregard for the future. 
It will do no harm, at least, to let your 
assemblyman know what you think of 
the matter. 
At Appleton we usually expect a visit 
each winter from the Evening Grosbeaks. 
These citizens of far-off Labrador never 
fail to excite interest. In the leafless 
trees they are very noticeable with their 
brilliant plumage of white, yellow and 
black and heavy bills. This year they 
<iame about the 12th of January, rather 
earlier than usual. They strip the box 
elders and maples of their seeds and I 
have reason to believe that some fruit 
trees will have fewer buds next spring as 
a result of their visit. They seem to have 
no especial fear of man,—not so much as 
most native birds who know us better; 
rather an unfavorable commentary on 
mankind. 
They are very welcome visitors to us 
who find pleasure in birds. We are glad 
that Appleton is a desirable winter resort 
to these strangers from the far north. As 
I hear them chatting in their loud but 
not unmusical tones, I wish I could un¬ 
derstand Labrador and get a few northern 
views of ourselves. 
- A 
This month we send out to the author 
of each letter published, a very fine pic¬ 
ture of the Blue Jay, the bird for last 
month. We hope you will like vour 
picture. We wish we could publish all 
the letters sent to us because there were 
many more good ones. Next month the 
bird is the Snowflake and we hope to get 
as many letters as we did this time. 
An Audubon Wing. 
Some time ago the editor of this mag¬ 
azine ventured to remonstrate gently with 
a very well-intentioned lady who was 
wearing a wing on her hat. He was 
emphatically informed that it was an 
“Audubon wing,” and further information 
was furnished to the effect that an Audu¬ 
bon wing was not a real wing (this was 
apparent when one looked closely) but 
just a manufactured wing of cloth and 
wire and feathers, and moreover that it 
rather a hardship to wear one for the 
sake of one’s conscience and public 
opinion and, incidentally, the law, be¬ 
cause that milliners, not having become 
Continued on page 64. 
