IJLACK AM) WJHTL; CKEEl'EK. f.Uo 



FAMILY MNIOTILTI DAK. WOOD WARBLtnty. 



Primaries, nine Bill, destitute of permanent lobe on nutting edge of lower mandiUe. Coracoid bones 

 about ei{ual in length to the top of the keel, sometimes being a little longer or shorter. Marginal indentations 

 exceeding in depth the height of the keel. Foot, of moderate size. This is a large family, embnicing sev- 

 eral genera and many species. All, with fV'ur e.xceptions, are small binls and all arc inhabitants of the Amer- 

 ican Continent and adjacent islands. 



GENUS MNIOTILTA. THE CREEPING WARBLERS. 



Gen. Cii. Ilind toe and claw, exceeding in length the middle tue an 1 claw ; also cunaling the tarsus 

 in length. Bill, long and slightly curved. Col/JK^, black and wliitfi 



MNIOTILTA VARIA. 

 Black and White Creeper 



DESCR1PT1()N. 



Sp. Cii. Form, slender. Size, mediuin. Tongue, long thin, liorny. l>ifid at tcnninati ii ami fringed 

 with cilia for about one-third, its terminal length 



Color. Adult male. Black above. Stripes on back, .supcrcili.'iry and medium stripes on head, tips 

 of feathers of both rows of coverts forming bars, outer margin of tertiaries and outer edges of upper tail 

 coverts, elongated terminal spots on outer web of three outer tail feathers, white. Wings and tail narrowly 

 margined with grayish, externally, and more broadly internally, with white. Beneath, white, brv)adly 

 streaked on throat and sides with black. Females, similar, but paler, with less black. Young, of both 

 sexes, similar to the female, but are inclined ti be tinged with ruFus on top of head, back and flanks. Iris, 

 bill, and feet, brown. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens vary in the amount of black markings below, some having the throat nearly white. South- 

 ern specimens have a longer bill than more northeni birds. Distinguisheil at once by the prominant black 

 and white stripings. The only species in our section with which it can be confounded is the Black-polled 

 Warbler, but this has the crown wholly black. The Black and White Creeper occurs in summer from the 

 Gulf coast north to Hudson's Bay, west to the Great Plains, but is rare north of Massachusetts. Winters in 

 Florida, the Bahamas, and Greater Antilles. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length, from 5.00 to o.oO; stretch, from 8.40 to i».0() : wing, .'.HO to o.OO ; tail, 1.S.3 to -i.!.". ; bill, .V, 

 to .58 ; tarsus, .60 to .70. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, usually placed on the ground. Composed of mosses, grasses and leaves ; lined with fern-cotton, 

 fine grasses and hairs. Dimensions, external diameter, :^.50 : interruil, 1.50. External depth, "2.50 : internal, 

 1.00. Eggs, three or four in number, oval in form, bluish white in color, spotted and lilotched irregul.-irk, 

 but often more thickly on the larger end, with lilac and umber. Dimensions trom .70 Iiy ..jO to .80 by .86. 



