THE BROWN TREE-CREEPER. d'^ 



though able to feed and care for themselves, the\- were still ac- 

 companied by their parents who were intensel}' devoted to their 

 welfare. The latter half of May is the time to search for their 

 nests in New York and New England. 



Not having been provided with the tools for digging out a 

 hole for himself, the brown creeper takes advantage of a shat- 

 tered limb, a hollow branch or an entrance wrought bv squirrels 

 or woodpeckers ; and ISlr. J. A. Allen found a nest in the pub- 

 lic square at Springfield, Mass., tucked away underneath a pro- 

 jection of bark. This vs^as unusual in all respects, for the creep- 

 ers almost invariably remain in the depths of the woods. A 

 still more anomalous case, — if there be no mistake about it, — 

 is recorded by Gregg in his Catalogue of the Birds of Che- 

 mung County, New York, wherein he states that " the nest of 

 this species is built of dry twigs attached to the sides flf some 

 perpendicular object. '' I discovered one," he adds, "on the at- 

 tic of a deserted log house ; the nest rested upon the inner pro- 

 jection of the gable clapboard, and was cemented together with 

 a gummy or gelatinous substance." But I doubt the correct- 

 ness of this. 



Taking some sort of a hole or cranny to be the normal and 

 usual position, the bed it contains may be described as a loose 

 aggregation of soft materials, among them plenty of feathers, 

 not interwoven, but simply collected with regard to no other 

 requisite than warmth. 



The eggs are 5 to 7 in number, opalescent, pearly white, 

 marked with small dots and occasionallv a few streaks of two 

 shades of reddish-brown. They measure a little lai^ger than a 

 wren's, — about .55 by .43, but, barring the lesser size, are not 

 certainly distinguishable from those of the chickadee. The 

 young come forth with great caution, creeping about long be- 

 fore they venture upon the wing. 



5 



