OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 135 



Dendrceca pinns, Baird. 



i 



The Pine-creeping Warbler has not been found 

 in our latitude during its vernal migration, to any 

 considerable extent. It is mostly a denizen of 

 pine forests and may be seen running up and down 

 the trunks of trees and along their branches, ever 

 on the alert for the larvae and ova of insects, 

 which it most dexterously extracts from their hiding 

 places. In southern New Jersey it proves to be 

 more abundant, frequenting low marshy grounds, 

 overgrown with shrubbery and the scrub pine. It 

 reaches the latitude of Philadelphia during the 

 latter part of April, and its visit is usually pro- 

 longed until about the i5th of May, when it is 

 notably scarce. During the breeding-period it is 

 unobserved, whence we infer that it does not re- 

 main to perform that essential business. During 

 certain mild and open \vintrrs, we are informed by 

 reliable authority, that it is common in pine forests 

 in the vicinity of Bridgeton, N. J, An instance is 

 recorded where a stray individual was met in 

 Philadelphia in mid-winter. 



This species is both terrestrial and arboreal. It 

 is an active, restless being, generally searching for 

 insects among the blossoms and needles of the 

 pine, or in the crevices of the bark, or seizing them 

 upon the wing; occasionally, it descends to the 

 ground for this purpose. Its movements recall 

 those of the Certhiida. Though chiefly restricted 

 to pine forests, we have never known it to desert 

 such places for open fields and orchards. 



