BY THE WAYSIDE 
53 
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SCHOOL BRANCH 
Every Wisconsin School Branch is required to subscri 
DEPARTMENT 
be for at least one copy of BY THE WAYSIDE 
Letters to this department should be 
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 writers sending to Miss Mary Drum¬ 
mond, Spring Lane, Lake Forest, Ill., and 
Wisconsin writers to Mr. Roland E. Kremers, 
Yiadison, Wis. To each writer whose letter 
s published will be sent a beautiful colored 
jicture of the bird of the month. For the 
jest letter each month we will send the 
Wayside free for one year. Preference will 
je given to letters about the bird study 
or the month and to original observations. 
The wren button which is the badge of the 
Audubon Society, costs two cents and can be 
•ought from Miss Mary Drummond, or Mr. 
iremsrs. 
Any Wisconsin society may, by paying 
he express, have the use of the Gordon and 
Libraries of bird books by applying 
o Mr. Kremers. 
A sei of colored bird slides with a type¬ 
written lecture may be rented from Roland 
;• Kremers, 1720 Vilas Street, Madison, 
vis. Illinois Schools may use, without ex- 
ense, a library or a lecture with lantern 
tides, by applying to Miss Bunnel, Academy 
f Sciences, Chicago. 
The Tree Sparrow 
There is probably no bird which is 
3 abundant and so uniformly distrib- 
ted ever Wisconsin, Illinois and Miclii- 
an as is the tree sparrow. I want 
tch and every one of you to look for 
during: the next month and then to 
rite me the result of your observa- 
ons. Look it up first in your bird 
3oks and find out what is the color of 
s crown and the distinguishing mark 
i the breast. I will give you this hint: 
ok for it among any and all brush 
?aps or in dense undergrowth. You 
ay not be able to find it in the north- 
n part of the state. 
Wisconsin Prize Letter 
Nov. 30, 1910. 
ear Wayside :— 
Last summer a robin built a nest in 
our poplar tree. It had four eggs in it 
and soon came four little birds. One 
night there was a terrible rain storm. 
In the morning I found that a little 
robin had fallen from its nest and that 
it was almost dead. I took it in the 
house; and, after the storm had passed., 
I put it back into the nest. Before I 
did this, I put a piece of red string on 
the robin ’s foot. I watched the bird all 
summer, for I could tell it by the red 
string. Every time I came outside with 
some crumbs it would come and eat 
them. It did not seem to be at all 
afraid of me. 
Yours truly, 
Clara Machlis. 
538 W. Mifflin St, 
Madison, Wis, 
Nov. 30, 1910. 
Dear Wayside :— 
Every year after Christmas we put 
out our tree for the birds. It always 
has bits of tallow, sweets, tin-foil, and 
many pieces of brightly colored strings 
on it. We tie on it crusts and other 
eatables. Our tree is quickly relieved 
of its burden by many cheerful little 
birds. We like them very much, and 
keep the tree loaded all winter. It al¬ 
ways stands near a pigeon-house; and 
we often see the pigeons, as well as 
other birds. One cold morning last win¬ 
ter I saw a ' '.bin among the other birds. 
He was very thin and weak. The next 
day I saw him again but that was the 
lost time. This year we are going to 
follow the usual custom. 
Truly yours, 
Age 12 . Anna Gebhardt. 
