2 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
wings somewhat dulls their winter 
dress. The female bird is not nearly 
so brightly colored as her mate, and it 
must be said that her housekeeping 
habits are not of the best. Her nest 
is rather a poor affair, loosely con¬ 
structed, usually placed in the holly, 
laurel or other evergreen shrubs which 
the birds seem to love to frequent. 
They appear almost as brilliant in the 
dark evergreen background as they do 
in the snow; and when there is the 
combination of the snow, the ever¬ 
green, and the cardinal bird, we have 
a picture that surely one is justified 
in holding in his memory throughout 
many years. 
Ornithologists tell us that the cardi¬ 
nal seems to be coming farther and 
farther north, and while I have never 
seen one in Wisconsin, they are some¬ 
times seen in northern Illinois. I have 
had occasion to renew their acquaint¬ 
ance in northern Indiana. 
Often they are captured when young, 
and sold as songsters and pets; but it 
seems a pity to rob of their freedom 
such joyous birds, who seem to so de¬ 
light in their free and vigorous life. I 
wish that all of the readers of By the 
Wavside could make the acquaintance 
of my favorite bird friend, the south¬ 
ern aristocrat who ought to be par¬ 
doned for his apparent self-conscious 
superiority. 
IN MEMORIAM 
We cannot pass over the death of 
Mr. 1. N. Mitchell, which occurred at 
tlie close of the school year last spring, 
without saying a word about his study 
of birds of Wisconsin. Since the days 
of the Kumliens, Dr. Hoy, Prof. King, 
Grundtvig, we do not recall of anyone 
who has spent a fair share of his time 
in the interest of Wisconsin Ornitho- 
logv. By this we do not mean to say 
that there have not been in recent 
years plenty observers scattered all 
over the state, and many of them are 
accurate in their reports. But Prof. 
Mitchell made an attempt to reach out 
over the state in order to gather to¬ 
gether the results of various local ob¬ 
servers. This unassuming task has been 
crowned with considerable success. 
We are told that of late as many as 
one hundred and fifty individuals were 
sending their migration data to him, 
to he compiled and the tabulations 
published in the Arbor and Bird Day 
Annual. 
Being a teacher of Birds and Bird 
Study. Prof. Mitchell realized how 
much pleasure and instruction was to 
he derived from that source. Hence 
he tried to interest others in our 
feathered friends and to this end he 
promoted the feeding of birds in Mil¬ 
waukee Parks, supported the Wiscon¬ 
sin Audubon Society, and above all de¬ 
voted considerable time and effort to 
making the Arbor and Bird Day An¬ 
nual a success. In this latter under¬ 
taking his wife was his collaborator. 
Important as these projects were in 
themselves or in the fruits they may 
bear, we do not consider them the most 
significant feature. This we consider 
