452 NUTHATCHES AND TITS 



In the stillness of the high mountain forests your ear sometimes 

 catches the thin, finely drawn pipe of the brown creeper, and if you 

 watch patiently on the dark-shaded boles of the lofty trees you 

 may discover the little dark-colored creature — seeming small and 

 Aveak in the great solemn fir forest — creeping up the trunks, exam- 

 ining the cracks with microscopic care as he goes. If he feels that 

 his work has not been done thoroughly enough, he drops back and 

 does it over again ; and when one tree has been gone over to his 

 satisfaction, he often flies obliquely down to the bottom of another 

 trunk and creeps patiently up that. On Mount Shasta, where the 

 firs are decorated with yellow moss, the Sierra creeper goes around 

 its pads when he comes to them, but works carefully over the 

 dark lichen-covered branches. Sometimes he lights upside down 

 on the under side of a branch, and clings like a fly, but with the 

 aid of his pointed tail well pressed against the bark. In New Mex- 

 ico, Mr. Batchelder has found the creepers eating more seeds than 

 insects. 



726c. C. f. occidentalis Bidgw. Californian Creeper. 



Upper parts rust if hroicn. brightest on rump ; superciliary and streaks 

 on head and back often tawnv. Wing : 2.47. tail 

 2.45, bill .72. 



Distribution. — Pacific coast from Sitka to 

 Fig. 577. Marin County, California. 



Nest. — Behind bafk of redwood or cedar, 3 to 

 5 feet from the ground, made of soft shredded bark, lined with feathers, 

 cocoons, and silk. 



726d. C. f. zelotes Osgood. Sierra Creeper. 



Upper parts dusky anteriorly, becoming- bright rusty on rump ; super- 

 ciliary, streaks on scapulars, and spots on primaries white ; throat and 

 breast pure white, sides and flanks tinged with brownish. 



Bemarls. — The Sierra creeper is intermediate between the California 

 and Rocky Mountain creepers. 



Distribution. — Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Sierra Nevada. 



Nest. — As described by Barlow, under the bark of a dead pine, about 

 20 feet from the ground, made of cedar bark, mixed with a few feathers. 

 Eggs : 5, white, spotted with flakes and confluent blotches of reddish 

 broAvn, with shell markings of lavender. 



FAMILY PARIDiE : NUTHATCHES AND TITS. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Tail much shorter than wing Sitta, p. 458. 



I'.Tail equal to or longer than wing. 



2. Tail graduated for about half its length . . . Chamaea, p. 459. 

 2'. Tail graduated for much less than half its length. 



3. Plumage compact Auriparus. p. 462. 



3'. Plumage loose. 



4. Length 4.00-4..50 Psaltriparus, p. 460. 



4'. Length 4.50-6.00 Parus, p. 455. 



