398 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



The mode of migration of these birds is a mj^stery. We are 

 accustomed to sa}- that the}" retire to the south early in September, 

 but how do tliey travel '. Do they rise in Hocks like .Swallows and go 

 off' during the night, or do they make the long journey from the 

 Saskatchewan, where they were seen by Richardson, south to Guate- 

 mala, flitting singly, or in pairs, from bush to bush 1 In either case 

 it is strange that they are seldom, if ever, seen except in the marshy 

 tracts where they spend the summer. 



Mr. White has found this species breeding near Ottawa, and it is 

 said to be common at many points in Manitoba, which seems to be 

 its northern limit. 



Family CERTHIID^. Ckkkpkrs. 



Gknus CERTHIA Lixx.i^iis. 



CERTHIA FAMTLIARIS AMERICANA (Boxap.). 



'Myi. Brown Creeper. ("I'G) 



Phimage above, .siiigulai-ly l)arre(l with dusky, whitish, tawaw or fulvous- 

 brown and bright l)io\vn, latter chiefly on the rump; below, white, either pure 

 or soile<l, and generally brownish waslie<l beliind ; wings, dusky, oddly varied 

 with tawny or wliitish bars and spots; tail, plain, about 5.',: wing and tail, 

 about 2J. 



Hab. — Noi-th -America in general, breeding fiom the noithein and more 

 elevated parts of tlie United States noitli as far a.s Ked Kiver settlement, 

 migrating south in winter. 



Nest, nearly always in a crevice where the bark is partially separated from 

 tlie trunk of a tree. In the crevice is placed a basis of twigs, on wliicli the nest 

 is built, of strips of baik and moss, lined with spiders' cocoons and down. 



Eggs, five to eight, dull white, spotted with i-eddisli})iowii or liu/.cl. 



This singular little bird is .seen in Sduthern Ontaiio at nearly ail 

 .seasons, but it is most abundant duiing the ])eii()d of migration. 

 About the end of Aj)ril and beginning of May, it becomes <juite 

 common in the woofls, anrl is s(;eii flitting like a great moth fnmi tree 

 to tree, or winding its spiral wav upward on a trunk, utteiing its 

 simple note so descriptive of the motion, creep, creep, creep. In 

 summer a pair may be seen, occasionally, in more favored spots, 

 evidently nesting, but at that season they are (juite rare. Early in 

 September they again become numerous, in coin[)any with other 

 migrants who are travelling southward, and in the depth of winter I 



