BY THE WAYSIDE 
SCHOOL BRANCH DEPARTMENT 
13 
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Every Wisconsin School Branch is required to su 
I - - 
Letters to this department should he 
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; Illinois writers sending to Miss 
Mary A. Hardman, 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 leatlet on some bird. 
For the best letter each month we will send 
a second leatlet. Preference 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 Cordon 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 
Runnel, Academy of Sciences, Chicago. 
Winter Feeding 
The fall gives us many indications of 
the coming season. It is, like spring, 
a forerunner, a prophet of what is to 
come. That is to say, September, Oc¬ 
tober, and even a part of November 
are months of transition,—months 
wherein Nature prepares herself for a 
rest, for that is what the winter is for 
most living things. The first indica¬ 
tions of the change are to be noted 
even as early as August when the 
shorebirds begin to return from the 
far north where they have reared their 
young. The early grains have ripened 
and are harvested. But it is in the 
month of September that the signs be¬ 
come unmistakable. One by one the 
' crops mature and the fields are cleared. 
Along the roadsides the asters and 
goldenrod bloom profusely. The birds, 
! • • • 
too, know that there is a change in 
the air, for they are very restless by 
scribe for at least one copy of BY THE WAYSIDE 
day, flying from one place to another 
to gorge themselves on the abundance 
of seeds and insects. The woods, too, 
tell us that winter is coming, for the 
wild-grape clusters are ripe and the 
squirrels are busy storing nuts of all 
sorts. It is at this time that the 
trees assume their brilliant colors. We 
say “ ’tis Indian summer,” and tell 
each other that Jack Frost has sent his 
warning to all the trees in the forest. 
By the end of October, all will have 
changed. Killing frosts have stopped 
the growth of plants, the bright au¬ 
tumnal colors have faded, and. the 
landscape looks bare. It is a strik¬ 
ing contrast to the picture of a month 
previous. Do you realize that a change 
almost equally as great has taken place 
in the situation of our birds? Not only 
has the climate so changed that a great 
many species are absent altogether and 
others present in much fewer numbers 
because the cold is too severe for them, 
but the scarcity of desired food has 
also had its effect on our avian popula¬ 
tion. In the first place, the insects 
which were so abundant in September 
have either perished or sought shelter. 
The wild fleshy fruits which have been 
maturing all summer have either fal¬ 
len to the ground or dried up, both 
circumstances rendering them unde¬ 
sired food for birds that ate them for 
the juicy substance they consisted of. 
Hence we see that species which win¬ 
ter with us in some years because of 
an abundant food supply are absent in 
other years. 
Since the food supply is one of the 
factors which influences the presence 
