No. 20.] THE BIRDS OF CONNECTICUT. 35 1 



An evil habit of this Wren is that of destroying the eggs of 

 other small birds by piercing them with its slender bill, and the 

 Long-billed Marsh Wren (Telmatodytes palustris palustris) has 

 been seen by Mr. Chapman to injure in the same manner the 

 eggs of the Least Bittern (Ardetta exilis). This latter Wren 

 " though like the House Wren it eats nothing but insects, can- 

 not be expected to help crops because of the remoteness of its 

 marshy habitat. Five birds were collected. Spiders and beetles 

 (Calandra oryza, Donacia, Hippodamia maculata) formed the 

 major part of their food. The minor part was composed of true 

 bugs, leaf -hoppers, flies, parasitic wasps, and ants." (Judd, 

 " Birds of a Maryland Farm.") 



The Winter Wren (N annus hiemalis hiemalis) lives like the 

 others of its family on insects and spiders. 



CREEPERS. 



Certhiidce. 



The Brown Creeper (Certhia familiar is americana) hunts 

 systematically through our woodland and orchards for insects, 

 flying from the top of one tree to the base of another and search- 

 ing in the interstices of the bark for eggs as it proceeds slowly 

 up the trunk. " Very few precise determinations of its food 

 have been made : three stomachs examined by King contained 

 small beetles and other insects, and Nelson reports that he has 

 seen several of these Creepers on the sides of a house searching 

 for spiders. In June, 1895, Aughey saw two parent birds bring 

 to a nest of young twenty-seven locusts in an hour. In Mary- 

 land, Judd found that one bird had eaten beetles, sawflies, flying 

 ants, spiders, and seeds of the scrub pine. There can be no doubt 

 that this is a very useful little bird, deserving all possible en- 

 couragement." (Weed and Dearborn, " Birds in their Relation 

 to Man.") 



NUTHATCHES. 



Sittida?. 



Other useful gleaners of the tree trunks and the larger 

 branches are the White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches 

 (Sitta carolinensis carolinensis, and canadensis) . Regarding the 



