298 



THE TAWNY CREEPER. 



angel dilty lisi)e(l in llie Iree-tojjs where tlie tender green fir fronds melt into 

 the sky — some Warhler, I guess; the Hermit, ])erha|.)S, rnuncHngout liis unsaid 



devotions. And again, ' /'"-^ j^,,/ .^ ^ szvcc" like a garland of song caught 



It Ice 



up at either end and maile fast to the ether. No ! Would you believe it ! 



It 



IS our prosy clerkhng! 



He has turned fay, and goes carolling about his 



task as blithely as a bejewelled artish' with nothing to do. Love? Yes; 



love of the woods, for it is the mid- 

 dle of September. 



All n{ which leads me to apologize 

 for the rude epithets pre\-iously used ; 

 for one who can sing belongs to the 

 immiirials: and never again will we 

 judge a brother harshly, for who 

 knows the vaulting heart of the 

 seeming plodder! 



The ordinary, working note of 

 the Tawny Creeper is a faint 

 tsip. and this is varied from time 

 to time bv a longer double n(jte, 

 fsnr tsce (of a resonant quality 

 which cannot be made to appear 

 in the transcript). This latter it 

 is which one can never C|uite cer- 

 tainly distinguish from that of the 

 Western Gijlden-crowned Kinglet. 

 The full song is, indeed, very 

 sweet and dainty, with a bit of 

 a plaintive cjuality, which serves to 

 distinguish it from the utterances 

 of the W^ood Warblers, once you are 

 accustomed. 

 A knowledge of the Creeper's nesting habits would be quite unattainable 

 were the bird to choose the tree-tops; but with characteristic humilit}' it seeks 

 the lower le\'els at the nesting season, so that one need not look much abo\e 

 his head in searching for its nest. 



The first one found was at the edge of the forest overlooking a woodland 

 road near Tacoma. We came u])on a pair of the l)irds gleaning from the 

 neighboring trees and calling encouragement to each other as they proceeded. 

 W^e were not long in divining their local attachments: and finally, after several 

 feints, the mother bird flew to an isolated tree at the very edge of the woods, 

 where investigatiijn disclosed a piece of bark warped and sprung by fire. 



Taken near Tacoma. Photo by Boiclcs and Dai<'SO}t, 

 TAWNY CREEPER APPROACHING NEST. 



THE mother's beak IS LADEN WITH GOOD THINGS. 



