BY THE WAYSIDE 
13 
SCHOOL BR ANO H DEP ART MENT 
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 
give name, age and address of the writer and 
should be mailed by the first of the month; Illi¬ 
nois writers sending to Miss Mary A. Hard- 
I man, Academy of Sciences, Chicago, Ill., and 
Wisconsin writers to Mr. Roland E. Krcmers, 
Madison, Wis. To each writer whose letter 
is published will be sent an illustrated leaf¬ 
let on some bird. For the best letter each 
month we will send a second leaflet. Pre¬ 
ference will be given to letters about the 
bird study for the month and to original 
observations. 
Any Wisconsin society may, by paying 
the express, have the use of the Gordon and 
Merrill Libraries of bird books by applying 
to Mr. Kremers. 
Wisconsin parties should apply to the 
University Extension Division, Madison, for 
colored bird slides. Illinois Schools may use, 
F without expense, a library or a lecture with 
lantern slides, by applying to Miss Bunnel, 
Academy of Sciences, Chicago. 
The Bird of the Month. 
The Kinglet. 
Really there are two of them, one 
j ruby crowned, the other with a crown of 
j gold, and that is really the least of the 
1 differences between them. Both are 
i pigmies among our birds, only the hum- 
] ming bird is of ^ lesser size. Both are 
| among our most useful of birds, for 
! with their small size, and their skill in 
! creeping along trunk and limb, they can 
| seek out the smaller insects from the 
1 narrowest crevices. That is what they 
seem to he doing most of the time, and 
! it is much to be doubted whether our 
forest and street trees have any friends 
j more faithful or more efficient than 
! these little fellows. 
Kinglets as such are rather easy to 
j recognize. Their small size, their tame¬ 
ness, and a habit of nervously flitting 
i their wings every few minutes—not to 
forget their crowns—distinguish them 
from all their comrades. But between 
the two Royalties there is an ocean of 
differences. 
The Golden-crowned Kinglet has a 
crown of gclden orange bordered by yel¬ 
low; his mate has to content herself with 
a less showy coronet of yellow alone. 
The musical abilities of this form seem 
small, a soft, low tsce, tsee, being its 
most ambitious effort. It is a bird of 
the north, abundant during spring and 
fall migrations; and having but little 
fear of cold, some of its numbers ma v 
7 v 
be found at all times during the win¬ 
ter. In summer, however, it seeks the 
North, and while a few perhaps may 
nest along the Wisconsin shore of Lake 
Superior, most of them cress this body 
of icy water, and seek a cooler region 
wherein to rear their young. 
The Ruby-crown is a more regal per¬ 
sonage ; a despot with a crown of fiery 
red, his spouse is not permitted even a 
coronet, but wears the plain colors of 
the common herd. The male, if you do 
not yet know him, will treat you some 
day to a surprise. If you go out among 
the trees some early morning in April, 
you will surely be attracted sooner or 
later by a song floating down mysteri¬ 
ously from the tree tops, a song so clear, 
so sweet, that if you have even a grain 
of music sense in you, you must stop 
and listen. It is a warble, quite com¬ 
plicated, and so sweet, that you will seek 
in vain for a better performance among 
cur native birds. Let us look for the 
singer. The music is so loud, we can 
hear it for two or three hundred feet. 
Surely the songster must he of some 
size to produce such volume. But no, 
we can find nothing in the trees but 
some little fellows flitting nervously 
