244 BIRD WATCHING 



woodpecker shows a greater tendency to deviate in this 

 direction ; but I have had no opportunity of doing this. 



With regard to the other assertion — namely, that 

 the tree - creeper never descends the trunk of the 

 tree — this is at least not true without qualification, for 

 I have seen it do so backwards, with a curious and, as 

 it seemed to me, a quite special motion. It was quick 

 and sudden, carrying the bird an inch or so down the 

 trunk, when it ceased and was not repeated : a jerk, in 

 fact, but of a much more pronounced character, made 

 thus backwards, than any of the little forward jerks, in 

 a toned — one might almost sometimes say a gliding — 

 succession, of which the ordinary " creeping " consists. 

 The first time I saw this action (to dwell upon) 

 it constituted a perpendicular descent, but my eye 

 was not full on the bird at the moment, so that I 

 only observed it imperfectly. On the second occasion 

 I saw it quite plainly, and this time the bird jerked 

 itself sideways as well as downwards, stopping in 

 the same abrupt manner, though whether it made two 

 short quick jerks or only one, I could not be quite 

 sure of. I think it was two, but that only the last 

 one gave the jerky effect. It would thus seem that 

 the tree - creeper might really progress in this way, 

 for some little while, if it wished to. The tail must 

 almost of necessity be raised, or the stiff, pointed 

 feathers would catch in the roughnesses of the bark ; 

 but, either from the quickness of the action, or the 

 slight extent to which it was lifted, I did not notice 

 this. 



I have also seen the great green woodpecker make 

 exactly this same motion, downwards and back- 

 wards, on the trunk to which he was clinging, so 



