Go I 



BROWN CREEPER 



grass of old fields. At nil tinu's this wren is diflicult to start u)) iVoni tlio u'russ, hui this 

 is ('s]iei'ially trtiL' in Florida. ]h:nx\ even with the aid of my dog, tl)e\- concealed tliein- 

 selves so conipletidv and ran so swiftly through the t:dl grass thai altlion.L'ii I could heai' 

 them scolding on all sides, not one in ten could he made to show itself 



FAMILY CERTHIIDAE. CREEPERS. 



Primaries, ten, with the wings rounded, the first r|uilis heiut;- less than one-half the leu.i>;tli of the seeoiid, 

 and this is about .40 shorter than the fourth, which i.? the longest. Tail, lono; and wed.ije shapeil, v,-ith the 

 feathers acute at tip and stiffened. 



GENUS. CERTHIA. BROWN CREEPERS. 



(jEN. Cfi. Plumage, soft and close. Bill, very slender, as long as head, and curved. Nostrils, open. 

 Sexes, similar. We have a single species within our limits. 



CERTHIA .AMERiCAMA. 

 Brown Creeper. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cii. Size, small. Form, very slender. Hind toe longer than the anterior tues. CoLoii. Above, 

 dark brown, slightly tinged with rufous, but with the rump decidedly rust color, each feather streaked centrally 



with white. Wings, brown, with all but the three outer primaries 

 tipped with white, crossed in the miildle by a broad band of yellow- 

 ish white, and edged terminally with the same color. Wing coverts 

 also tipped with white. Tail, brown, edged with yellowish white. 

 Beneath, silky white, tinged on flanks and under tail coverts with 

 paler rusty. Young, similar, but with the streaks above more in- 

 distinct, and with the feathers tipped with dusky, and there are 

 faint bars of dusky on the throat. 



Fig. 108. Head of adult 

 Brown Creeper. 



OBSERVATIONS. 

 Distinguished at once by the slender, curved bill, acutely pointed 

 and stiffened tail feathers and brown striped i)lumage. Occurs in 

 the breeding season throughout temperate Eastern North America 

 from Northern New England, northward. Winters from Massa- 

 chusetts, southward to the Carolinas. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Length, 5.25 to 5.60 ; stretch, 7.50 to 7.00; wing, 2.40 to 2.(]0 ; tail, 2.oO to 2.45 : bill, .m to .58 ; tar- 

 sus, .60 to .68. 



HABITS. 

 The sharp lisping cr\' of the Brown Creeper is a familiar sound in our Ma,ssachnsetts 

 woodlands in winter. The author of this somewhat feehly given note is not very easily 

 seen, however,fbr he clings closely to the l)ark of the trees and his colors are (juite similiX!" 

 to those of the tree trtniks up which he makes his spiral ascent. By ]ia_\'ing close atten- 

 tion to the trees from wdiich the notes appear to come, one will he apt to see the little 

 hrown birds dart downward after they have reached the smaller branches and alight at 

 the base of a neighboring tree. Besides this low lisping notes the creepeis utter a louder 



