THE BROWN CREEPER 13 
fact, plainly dressed birds are, as a rule, the best 
musicians. The very handsome ones have no 
need to charm with the voice. And our modest 
little creeper has a song, and a fairly good one ; 
one that answers his purpose, at all events, al- 
though it may never make him famous. In 
springtime it may be heard now and then even 
in a place like Boston Common ; but of course 
you must go where the birds pair and nest if you 
would hear them at their finest; for birds, ike 
other people, sing best when they feel happiest. 
The brown creeper’s nest used to be something 
of a mystery. It was sought for in woodpeck- 
ers’ holes. Now it is known that as a general 
thing it is built behind a scale of loose bark on 
a dead tree, between the bark and the trunk. 
Ordinarily, if not always, it will be found under a 
flake that is loose at the bottom instead of at the 
top. Into such a place the female bird packs 
tightly a mass of twigs and strips of the soft in- 
ner bark of trees, and on the top of this prepares 
her nest and lays her eggs. Her mate flits to 
and fro, keeping her company, and once in a 
while cheering her with a song, but so far as has 
yet been discovered he takes no hand in the work 
itself. It is quite possible that the female, who 
is to occupy the nest, prefers to have her own 
way in the construction of it. 
