no TREE-CREEPER. 



America, from 50° N. lat. to Mexico, is found a very close ally which 

 trinomialists designate C. familiaris ainericana. 



Towards the end of April the Tree-Creeper makes its nest ; usually 

 selecting for it a crevice between the partially detached bark and 

 the trunk of a tree, or a narrow cleft in the bole ; not unfrequently 

 it is behind the loose plaster, or under the straw eaves of a shed 

 or dwelling ; sometimes in the foundation of the nest of a large 

 bird of prey, and in piles of timber or bricks. Fine straw and 

 twigs, roots, grass and moss are the materials employed, with a 

 lining of wool, feathers, and fine strips of inside bark, often that of 

 the birch-tree. The eggs, 6-g, are white, spotted and blotched with 

 reddish-brown and dull purple, especially towards the larger end : 

 average measurements "62 by '47 in. Incubation is assiduously per- 

 formed by the female, who is, however, rather shy, slipping off 

 her nest on the approach of an intruder. Two broods are generally 

 reared in the season. The food, as already observed, consists princi- 

 pally of insects, and occasionally of seeds of the Scotch fir. The 

 song of this little bird is shrill, but rather pleasing ; and I have 

 noticed that in the bright climate of the south of Europe, in the 

 gardens of the Alhambra at Granada, for instance, it is much more 

 prolonged and joyous than in the north. The call-note is a feeble 

 cheep, cheep. When climbing, the stiff-pointed feathers of the tail 

 are depressed; the bird ascending by their assistance and by that of 

 its long curved claws, with a short jerking movement, and generally 

 in a spiral direction. In winter the Tree-Creeper may often be 

 observed in company with several species of Titmouse, or Golden- 

 and Fire-crested Wrens. 



The adult has a dull white streak over the eye ; feathers of the 

 head, neck, and back dark brown with pale centres ; lower back 

 rufous-brown ; wing-quills dark brown, barred and margined ex- 

 teriorly with buflish-white ; tail of twelve stiff-pointed feathers, dull 

 reddish-brown, with paler shafts ; chin, throat, breast and belly 

 silvery-white; flanks and vent suffused with buff ; the rather long, 

 slender, curved bill dark brown above, yellowish below ; legs and 

 feet, light brown. Length from the forehead to the tip of the tail 

 about 4"5 in. ; wing 2*5 in. The sexes are alike in plumage. The 

 young have a more rufous-yellow tinge than the adults, and the bill 

 is very short and almost straight. 



