X98 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



\vitli a pistol loaded with tlie finest shot. Its mate could have been secured, 

 as she persisted in pursuing them, but she was not molested. Throughout 

 there was not a trace of timidity on the part of either bird, but the most 

 reckless and daring devotion. 



Besides the single call-note or the sharp outcry M'itli which the Creepers 

 signalize their movements, and which they utter from time to time as they 

 rapidly and busily move up and down the trunks and limbs, or flit from tree 

 to tree, they have been generally regarded as having no song. But this, is not 

 the fact. The careful observations of Mr. William Brewster of Cambridge 

 have satisfied him that these birds ha\'e a very distinct and varied song. Dur- 

 ing the winter these birds are not uncommon in the vicinity of Boston, coming 

 about the houses with all the tameness and confidence of tlie Parus atricapii- 

 lus, and permit a very near approach. They are very easily attracted by sus- 

 pending from a piazza a piece of fat meat. j\Ir. Brewster has observed them 

 commence singing as early as the 14tli of INIarch. Their notes are varied 

 and warbling and somewhat confused ; some of them are loud, powerful, and 

 surpassingly sweet, others are more feeble and plaintive ; their song usually 

 ends with their accustomed cry, which may be represented by cree-cree- 

 cre-ep. Mr. Brewster, besides repeatedly hearing them sing in Massachusetts 

 in the early spring, has also listened to their song in Maine in the month of 

 June. 



Their eggs are -small in proportion to the size of the bird, are nearly oval 

 in shape, with a grayish-white ground, sparingly sprinkled with small, fine, 

 red and reddish-brown spots. They measure .55 by .43 of an inch. 



Certhia familiaris, Aar. mexicana, Glog. 



MEXICAN CREEPER. 



Certhia mexicana, " Glogeu, Handbuch," Reichenbach, Handbucli, I, 1853, 265, jii. 

 dlxii, iigs. 3841, 3842. — Sclatee, P. Z. S. 1856, 290 ; 1858, 297; 1859, 362, 372. 

 — Salvin, Ibis, 1866, 190 (Volcan de Fuego, Guat.). — Bauid, Birds N. Am. 1858, 

 373 (under C. americana), pi. Ixxxiii, fig. 2 ; Review, 90. 



Sp. Char. Ground-color above very dark sepia-brown, each feather with a sharply 

 defined medial streak of grayish-white, these streaks becoming broader posteriorly, where 

 they are discontinued at the beginning of the rump. Whole rump and upper tail-coverts 

 chestnut-rufous. Beneath pale ashy, becoming almost white on the throat ; crissal feath- 

 ers deep ochraceous except at the tips, which are whitish. Markings of the wings as 

 usual. Measurements (8176, Mexico): wing, 2.50; tail, 2.70; bill (from nostril), .48; 

 hind claw, .30. 



Hab. Gruatemala and Mexico ; probably extending along the table-lands into the 

 United States. 



This is one of the best marked of the various races that have been dis- 

 cussed (see p. 124). The ground-color of the upper parts is altogether darker 

 than in any of the others, and the streaks are more sharply defined and nar- 



