BLACK-AND-WHITE CREEPING WARBLER. 277 



house, while H. D. Minot found one "in the cavity of a tree 

 rent by Hghtning, and about five feet from the ground," 

 and another "on the top of a low birch stump, which stood 

 in a grove of white oaks." 



A nest, received from Nova Scotia, found with callow 

 young on the 19th of June, was placed on the top of an old 

 stump, about two feet from the ground, so set in the moss 

 and dried leaves as to be pretty much concealed, the top of 

 the stump somehow supporting several young maples. The 

 nest is quite deep and substantial, composed of leaves and 

 coarse bark-fibers throughout. It bears a decided resem- 

 blance to the nest of the Golden-winged Warbler. 



The chippifig^ or ordinary alarm and conversational notes, 

 of the Black-and-white Creeper is somewhat varied, and 

 the female is not so clearly marked, having the black and 

 white of the throat of the male replaced by a dull white or 

 grayish. Migratory throughout Eastern North America, 

 even to the fur countries, a few only remaining in the extreme 

 Southern States in winter, this bird breeds throughout its 

 range, in this habit resembling the Brown Creeper rather 

 than the Warblers. 



As I observe this Creeping Warbler, so industriously 

 gleaning the smaller insects with their eggs and larvae from 

 the bark of our forest trees, I am reminded of the economic 

 utility of our birds in the destruction of insects. The 

 Woodcock and Wilson's Snipe bore into the soft ground in 

 search of worms; the Sparrows, the Blackbirds, the 

 Thrushes, and many others, glean the caterpillars, grubs, 

 beetles and bugs upon its surface; the Barn and Eave Swal- 

 lows, the Purple Martin, the Bluebird and the Common 

 Wren, greatly reduce the spiders and other noxious insects 

 about our residences; King Birds, Shrikes, Orioles, Robins, 

 Goldfinches, the Yellow Warbler and the Warbling Vireo 



