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BY THE WAYSIDE 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
Published on the tenth of each month except 
July and August, 
The official organ of the Wisconsin, Illinois and 
Michigan Audubon Societies. 
Twenty-five cents per year Single copies 5 cents 
Contributions to By tiie Wayside are invited 
Irom all lovers of Nature and friends of the 
birds. All communications should be sent to 
Roland E. Kremers, 1720 Vilas St., Madison, 
Wis. 
In consequence of the number of 
osprey plumes seen at social functions, 
and in the milliners’ windows during 
the London season of 1911, the Roved 
Society for the Protection of Birds, con¬ 
trived a unique scheme for attracting 
public notice to the manner in which 
these plumes are obtained. Ten sand¬ 
wich men in neat green dresses were 
hired for three weeks to parade the 
streets of the 'West-end of London. 
Bach man carried a placard which dis¬ 
played a large picture showing an event 
in the life of the egret, as photographed 
from li f ‘e. Tn consecutive order the se¬ 
ries of posters told the story of the egret, 
heron or osprey feather; the last one 
bearing the legend—The Badge of 
Cruelty—above the picture of a woman’s 
hat. The posters have also been put on 
the walls of a hundred stations in Lon¬ 
don and the suburbs. 
Collier’s Weekly for Nov. 11 contains 
an interesting article by W. T. Ilorn- 
adav on Prohibition that Prohibits, 
showing the practical and beneficial re- 
sudts which have come to the states 
where sale of game is forbidden. lie 
notes that “to the farmer it is a life or 
death matter, with their crops as the 
Stake. The farmers of the South, and 
their lawyers * * * had best vote 
for the Week’s Bill, and so put all our 
migratory birds under federal protec-| 
tion. It is a measure of direct financial 
importance to every one in the United 
States. If the insectvorous birds are 
exterminated, up goes the price ofl 
wheat, corn, fruit and vegetables. This 1 ! 
is not a dream, but a cold fact which all! 
of us will do w r ell to heed.” 
At an exhibition in North Carolina 
Orville Wright recently beat a bird at 
its own game. During a lull in his 
flight, a little gray and white fly-catcher, 
a dapping wing bird about half the size! 
of an English sparrow, unable to make 
headway against the strong wind sought 
rest on one of the wires of the machine. 
It was so exhausted that Ofwille Wright 
reached out and took it in his hand, shel¬ 
tering it close to him until it recovered. 
Ths Bird's Christmas Tree 
Many of us celebrate Christmas with a 
gaily decorated tree, but how few of us 
tliinlc to use the tree for any other pur¬ 
pose after flic day is over. Our tree is 
kept until Little Christmas, or Twelfth 
Night, when the candles are relighted. 
The next day we take off all the gay 
trimmings and tie on little baskets of 
grain, pieces of bread, suet and apple. 
Then we place the tree out in a well shel¬ 
tered corner of the house, or plant it 
firmly in a snow bank. Almost imme¬ 
diately the birds flock to it, greatly ex¬ 
cited over, what must seem to them, n 
magic tree, sprung up over night in the 
midst of winter and laden with food. 
—B. J. 
