BY THE WAYSIDE 
37 
SCHOOL BRANCH DEPARTMENT 
L._ 
Every Wisconsin School Branch is required to subscribe for at least one copy of BY THE WAYSIDE 
Letters to this department should be 
[ written on only one side of the page, should 
*ive 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 
t Wisconsin writers to Mr. Roland E. Kremers, 
Vladison, Wis. To each writer whose letter 
s published will be sent an illustrated leaf- 
et on some bird. For the best letter each 
month we will send a second leaflet. Pre- 
f ^erence will be given to letters about the 
lird study for the month and to original 
ibservations. 
The wren button which is the badge of the 
\.udubon Society, costs two cents and can be 
lought from Miss Mary Drummond, or Mr. 
(remers. 
Any Wisconsin society may, by paying 
:he express, have the use of the Gordon and 
Merrill Libraries of bird books by applying 
:o Mr. Kremers. 
A set of colored bird slides with a type¬ 
written lecture may be rented from Roland 
Z. Kremers, 1720 Vilas Street, Madison, 
Wis. Illinois Schools may use, without ex- 
>ense, a library or a lecture with lantern 
lides, by applying to Miss Bunnel, Academy 
»f Sciences, Chicago. 
The Junco 
Winter is the best of all times to ob¬ 
serve the few birds that stay with us. 
hit out crumbs for the chickadees and 
iluejays. Take a walk once in a while 
rad watch for the tracks of quail or 
r 
’•rouse in the snow. 
Keep your eyes open these days 
‘or the slate colored iunco. If you 
II 
fee one you will spy a dozen more— 
!maybe a hundred. They always come 
; n flocks. This little winter visitor is 
lot lied in slate gray, all except the 
ower portion of its breast. Also two 
ail feathers of pure white twinkle as 
he owner darts from one bush to an- 
•ther. These are the characteristic 
l; 
narkings of the junco. Watch for him 
nd let us know when you have made 
iis acquaintance. 
Prize Letter 
Shumway, Ill., Oct. 23, 1911. 
Dear Wayside :— 
I have been keeping notes on the 
birds I have seen the past two months. 
The bird, whose habits I have studied 
the most is the hummingbird, which 
frequented my mother’s flowers at ail 
hours. The general color was green; 
head, greenish black and appeared 
scaly; throat, greyish white, and a 
greyish white belly. Early in the 
morning they sunned themselves on a 
dried saliva flower. On cold mornings 
especially these birds darted continu¬ 
ally among the flowers to keep them¬ 
selves warm. They also enjoyed sit¬ 
ting on a branch or twig of the birch 
tree, letting it swing them to and fro. 
Their little wings just shivered with 
ecstasy because the rocking was so 
pleasant. They never seemed afraid 
of me but flew around me without fear. 
They left us about October 2. 
Today I saw a flicker quite near me. 
He had a red cap setting jauntily on 
the back of lbs head; a striped back; 
great black dots on his breast and 
sporting a yellow lining on his wings. 
He flew over some sparrows that, were 
feasting on seeds and wild grapes. 
I also found two small nests in a 
willow tree—one was made snugly 
with straws, dry grass and mud and 
the other more loosely made out of dry 
grass. I have noticed more things but 
I think this will be a long enough let¬ 
ter for this time. 
Age 12. 
Tours truly, 
Mamie Lane. 
