78 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



formed of the same material ; the interior is made of 

 fine roots, dry grass, strips of inner bark, and moss, and 

 frequently finished off with wool and feathers in small 

 quantities. Almost every kind of forest tree will be 

 selected, provided a suitable site can be obtained. The 

 Creeper is neither social nor gregarious during the 

 breeding season, each pair keeping entirely to them- 

 selves. The female sits closely, and when disturbed slips 

 quietly away without demonstration. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Creeper are from six to nine in number, 

 white, or white tinged with yellow in ground colour, 

 spotted and blotched with reddish-brown or brownish- 

 red, and with underlying markings of similar character, 

 but violet-gray in colour. The markings differ a good 

 deal in size and distribution ; some being minute and 

 very dark in colour, others blotchy and paler ; some 

 confined to a zone round the larger end of the q^^, 

 others equally distributed over the entire surface. On 

 some eggs the markings are very few and minute. 

 Average measurement, •62 inch in length, by "47 inch in 

 breadth. Incubation, performed chiefly by the female, 

 lasts from fourteen to fifteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Creeper 

 are indistinguishable from those of some of the Tits 

 and allied species, but the singular nest affords an 

 easy and constantly reliable means of identification. 



