Brewer on the American Brown Creeper. 89 



mode of nesting, and that this is one of several reasons that unite 

 to make this nest one so rarely discovered. But other situations 

 are sometimes chosen. The European Creeper was found nesting 

 in Spain by Lord Lilford (Ibis, 1866), in the foundation of the nest 

 of the Cinereous Vulture, and Mi*. Sachse informs Mr. Dresser that 

 on the Rhine it nests in cracks on the outside of peasants' huts. 

 The only instance of its breeding other than between the loosened 

 bark and the trunks of trees that has come to my knowledge is 

 that mentioned by Professor Aughey, who found a nest of our 

 Creeper in a knot-hole in the timber near Dakota City, in June, 

 1865. 



The nesting of the Creeper in Southeastern Massachusetts was 

 brought to my notice by Mr. I. S. Howland of Newport, R. I., and 

 I give substantially the notes furnished by that gentleman. The 

 nest of the Brown Creeper was found, after a careful search, by 

 Mr. Charles T. Snow of Taunton, on the 27th of May, 1878, in the 

 middle of a large maple swamp, where he had noticed the presence 

 of the bird for several previous summers without being able to dis- 

 cover its nest. This had been constructed between the bark and 

 the trunk of a dead pitch-pine, the latter being about ten inches in 

 diameter. The opening was nearly closed with chips of bark and 

 other substances forming its foundation, and the nest was a min- 

 gling of fine bits of inner bark and soft vegetable substances, so 

 soiled by its occupants that it could not be recognized. The young 

 were just leaving the nest, which was ten feet from the ground. 

 Its diameter was about three inches. As the set of eggs taken 

 at Grand Menan appeal', as compared with other sets, to be not 

 typical, either in regard to ground-color or size, I will here add 

 other descriptions. The gray ground of that set was possibly owing 

 to their being just on the point of hatching. In all others since 

 seen the ground-color is pure white, and the spots are a blending of 

 brown and purplish-brown blotches. A set of six taken in May, 

 1875, in Milan, N. H., are larger than those described in " North 

 American Birds." The largest measures .60 x .49 inches, the 

 smallest .58 x .47, and they average .59 x .48. This set very 

 closely resembles, in every respect, my set of the eggs of C.famili- 

 aris from Sweden, as well as the set of C. brachydacbyla from the 

 mountains of Eastern France. The blotches are a trifle larger on 

 the eggs of both the European races. The largest number of eggs 

 in any set of our Creeper's that I have known is seven. In the 



