156 



BIRDS. 



9. The Creepers. 



The little Tree-Creeper is usually seen running zigzag 

 up the trunks of trees, against which press the twelve 

 Tree- stiff tail-feathers. By these, as well as by the 



Creeper, white spots and bars on the back and wings, 

 it may easily be recognised. It never descends trees like 

 the nuthatch, but having reached the top of the bare 

 trunk, flies off to the base of a neighbouring tree. The 

 long curved bill assists it in its search for grubs, of which 



its entire food con- 

 sists. The only 

 pretence to song 

 is a twitter. The 

 nest, laced be- 

 tween the trunk 

 and some loose 

 portion of the 

 bark, is ready ear- 

 ly in May. Curi- 

 ously enough, it is 

 attached, as a rule, 

 to the loose bark, 

 though I have 

 more than once 

 found it fast to 

 the trunk. It con- 

 sists of straw and bark lined with feathers. Eggs, 6 or 8, 

 I inch ; white, with reddish spots at the larger end. The 

 distribution of this bird varies in successive years. In 

 1886, for instance, I found seven nests within a mile of 

 Dartford Heath ; but T do not know of one taken in that 

 immediate neighbourhood in either 1887 or 1888. 



Wall-Creeper. — A rare straggler from Southern Europe. 

 I knew of eggs in three nests in a crumbled wall outside 

 Pisa (1891), and the old birds used to feed on the large 



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