BY THE WAYSIDE 
I 
29 
SCHOOL BRANCH DEPARTMENT 
Every Wisconsin School Branch is required to subscribe for at least one copy of BY THE WAYSIDE 
Letters to this department should b; 
written on only one side of the page, should 
give name, age and address of the writer and 
( should be mailed by the first of the month; 
Illinois write s sending to Miss Mary Drum: 
it mond , Spring Lane, Lake Forest, Ill., and 
Wisconsin writers to Mr. F. S. Brandenburg, 
Madison, Wis. To each writer whose letter 
is published will be sent a beautiful colored 
picture of the b rd of the mmth. For the 
best letter each month we will send the 
Wayside free for one ytar, Preference will 
be given to letters about the bird study 
fcr the month and to original observations. 
The wren button which is the badge of the 
Audubon Society, costs two cents and can be 
bought from Miss Mary Drummond, or Mr. 
Brandenburg. 
Any Wisconsin society may, by paying 
the express, have the use of the Gordon and 
Libraries of bird books by applying 
to Mr. Brandenburg, 
A set of colored bird slides with a type¬ 
written lecture may be rented from Chas. E. 
Brown, State Historical Building, Madison, 
Wis. Illinois Schools may use, without ex¬ 
pense, a library or a le-ture with lantern 
s ' i J e s, by applying to Miss Bunnel, Academy, 
of Sciences Chicago. 
Of course, laws are made ostensibly to 
protect our feathered songsters, as well as 
our game birds, but laws only restrain, 
they do not prevent. And tins makes 
it “as clear as the sun shines” that a new 
generation should be raised of bird 
i lovers and bird protectors. 
This can be accomphshecl very easily 
and at moderate cost. In one of my 
visits to a school, as G. A. R. patriotic 
instructor, I was surprised to see pasted 
against the walls of the school room the 
pictures and photographs of nearly a 
■dozen of our best known native b’rds. 
This teacher, Miss Ruth Lewis, had 
been impressing upon the minds of her 
scholars for several years that they 
i should love God and keep His com¬ 
mandments ; love father and mother, 
and love flowers and birds. The birds 
were last but not the least in her affec¬ 
tions. She seemed to be so happy in 
the reflection that not one of her 
scholars, little or big, would harm a 
bird. Then it occurred to me that if 
one teacher in one school could accom¬ 
plish so much, why not let other teachers 
try the same thing in other schools? 
My plan would be to have leaflets 
printed representing as many as twenty 
of our best known birds, each leaflet 
having the photograph of a bird, to¬ 
gether with a statement of its character 
and habits and its usefulness to man. 
These leaflets to be distributed either by 
patr'otic instructors, or otherwise in 
every school in the state. The effect, 
no doubt, in many instances, would be 
the same as in the school to which I 
have referred. The birds, being better 
piotected, would increase in numbers 
year by year to the great and lasting 
benefit of all these engaged in garden¬ 
ing or in the business of agricultui e. 
My Motto :—Every insect-eating bird 
has a money value and is a benefit to 
the commonwealth. 
B. Cornell, 
Soldiers' Heme, \ ineland, N\ J. 
The Bird of the Month 
Let us make this a “Purple Martin 
* Number of By the Wayside, and stud y 
as much as we can the Habits of this 
useful and ornamental bird. Although 
the martins have already departed for 
their winter homes in the South, man\ 
of us can recall incidents that occulted 
while they were here. \\ rite those to 
the Wayside, as a sequel to Mr. Bur- 
rill's interesting article in this number. 
It would be wed also for us to spend 
some of the cold, stormy days this win¬ 
ter in building modern apartments to 
be ready for the birds, as they return 
next April. The cut on the first page 
of this number gives a fine idea of the 
way such houses should be constructed. 
