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: BY TIIE WAYSIDE 20 
SC HO OL BRANCH _DEPARTM ENT 
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.aj'e and address of the writer and 
should be mailed by the first of the month; Illi¬ 
nois writers sending to Miss Mary A. Hard¬ 
man, Academy of Sciences, Chicago, Ill., and 
Wisconsin writers to Mr. Roland E. Kremers, 
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, 
without expense, a library or a lecture with 
lantern slides, by applying to Miss Bunnel, 
Academy of Sciences, Chicago. 
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THE BIRD OF THE MONTH 
The Junco 
Early in November, as I was walk¬ 
ing from my home to the University, I 
suddenly spied a flock of birds flying 
from a small tree just ahead of me. I 
noted the spread tails, with their white 
outer feathers, and, without really be¬ 
ing half aware of it, I said to myself: 
I must not forget to take my overcoat 
! to the tailors, to be put in shape for 
) 
t .winter before it is too late.” Queer, 
wasn’t it? But if birds can remind us 
of our important duties, are they not 
worth protecting even for that. 
And the junco keeps us reminded 
that the real winter will be with us be- 
fore long. They remind us too, that 
just because its growing cold is no rea- 
I son at all for complaining. Don’t they 
I enjoy it? So why should not we? Are 
there not birds to study in winter as 
| well as in summer? Cheer up! 
In summer the junco (meaning our 
junco, which is the slate-colored junco) 
lives farther north, on the shores of 
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Lake Superior and from there to Arc¬ 
tic waters of Alaska. Here it builds 
its nest of grass and moss, and root¬ 
lets; often it lines it with hair of rab¬ 
bit or fox; and here it rears its brood 
of young. The eggs are four or five in 
number, white or blueish, speckled and 
blotched with brown. And here un¬ 
doubtedly it is happy. 
But the cold comes early in those 
northern regions. I have myself chop¬ 
ped ice from the canoe seat in north¬ 
ern Minnesota during the middle of 
September. That is no climate for a 
bird to hang around in. And so Mr. 
Junco (and Mrs. Junco, and the kids), 
pull out for balmier climes. Their de¬ 
mands as to balminess are not very ex¬ 
acting. Some go as far as Florida and 
California, others stay right here with 
us. They are busy all day, looking 
for the scanty winter fare. No one 
seems to have studied their food hab¬ 
its in detail, but we may feel very sure 
that they do their full share in reduc¬ 
ing the supply of weed seeds. They 
are very tame, come often into our 
dooryards, and a little encouragement 
will bring them to the window sill 
for food. 
The juncos are of those birds, with 
whom the mother ifs dressed less gaily 
than her mate. To be sure gay is no 
word to us in describing the color of 
Mr. Junco, largely slate gray, with 
white breast. But even so, Mrs. Jun¬ 
co’s dress looks more rusty, as one au¬ 
thor accurate but somewhat impolitely 
put it. 
With us the junco produces only a 
tsip, tsip, for music; in his summer 
home he is to have a somewhat more 
pretentious song. 
