SOUTHERN CREEPER 71 



CERTHIA FAMILIARIS NIGRESCENS Bnrleigh 

 SOUTHERN CREEPER 



In naming and describing this subspecies, Thomas D. Burleigh 

 (1935) says that it is "similar to Certhia familiaris americana, but 

 crown and upper half of back distinctly darker, the prevailing color 

 being fuscous black rather than sepia ; primaries darker and approach- 

 ing clove brown; tail more grayish (hair brown); russet of rump 

 darker ; underparts grayer." 



He gives the distribution as follows : "Breeds in the Canadian Zone 

 of the southern xlppalachians from Pocahontas County, W. Va. 

 (Cranberry Glades) , to the Great Smoky Mountains in western North 

 Carolina and eastern Tennessee; winters at a lower altitude in this 

 same region." 



Burleigh says further: "This southern race of the brown creeper 

 is easily distinguished in fresh winter plumage by the lack of brown 

 on the crown and the upper half of the back. In worn breeding 

 plumage this character is somewhat obscure, but the color of the 

 tail, hair brown rather than pale brown as in Certhia familiaris 

 aTnericana^ is readily diagnostic, as are the darker primaries. Breed- 

 ing birds taken in June and July are so badly worn that accurate meas- 

 urements could not be taken, but apparently there is no appreciable 

 difference in size in the two eastern races." 



This subsj)ecies is based on the study of 13 specimens taken in the 

 above-mentioned localities. 



CERTHIA FAMILIARIS MONTANA Ridgway 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN CREEPER 



Plate 16 



HABITS 



The Eocky Mountain creeper enjoys the widest distribution of any 

 of the w^estern races of the species. The 1931 Check-list states that it 

 "breeds in boreal zones from central Alaska (Mt. McKinley), central 

 British Columbia, and southern Alberta south in the Eocky Mountains 

 to Arizona and New Mexico." Its smnmer range is at high altitudes 

 in the mountains in the coniferous forests. In New Mexico, according 

 to Mrs. Bailey (1928), it breeds mainly at altitudes ranging from 

 7,500 to 9,000 feet; after the breeding season the birds w-ere noted 

 as high as 12,000 feet on Pecos Balcly ; but it evidently drifts down to 

 much louver levels in fall and winter. Dr. Mearns (1890) found it no 

 lower than 6,500 feet in the Arizona mountains, where he found it 

 "an abundant summer resident of the spruce, fir and aspen woods of 

 high altitude, ranging to the timber line; much less common in the 



