THE TREE CREEPER 4? 
nimbly round to the morsel, takes his stand on it and hammers 
away until he has separated a large lump. This he then seizes 
in his beak and retires to a place of seclusion, leaving the inferior 
animals to squabble to their hearts’ content over the crumbs which 
he has dislodged, and presently he discomfits them again by a reap- 
pearance. What his powers as a combatant may be I cannot say ; 
great, it may be supposed, for no one is inclined to do him battle, and 
he is not sociably disposed even towards those of his own kind. 
FAMILY CERTHIIDZ 
THE TREE CREEPER 
CERTHIA FAMILIARIS 
Upper plumage mottled with yellowish brown, dark brown, and white ; a pale 
streak over the eyes; throat and breast buff-white, becoming dusky 
towards the tail; wings brown tipped with white and barred with white 
brown, and dull yellow; tail-feathers reddish brown, stiff and pointed. 
Length five inches, breadth seven inches. Eggs white, with small 
yellowish red spots. 
THE Tree Creeper, though a common bird, is less familiarly known 
than many others of much rarer occurrence, yet, if once observed, 
can be confounded with no other. In size it ranks with the Tits, 
Willow Wren, etc., but is less likely to attract notice than any of 
these, as it never alights on the ground, nor perches on the small 
twig of a tree. Its note, too, is weak, simple, and unpretending, 
amounting to no more than an occasional ‘ cheep’, which it utters 
from time to time while hunting for food, and while performing 
its short flights. Any one, however, who wishes to see the bird, 
and knows what to search for, can scarcely fail of success if he looks 
well about him during a stroll through aimost any wood of full- 
grown trees. Half-way up the trunk of a rugged elm or oak he will 
observe a small portion of bark, as it were, in motion ; the motion, 
and not the colour, betrays the presence of a small brown bird, 
which is working its way by a succession of irregular starts up the 
trunk. Frequently it stops for a few seconds, and is evidently 
pecking at some small insect, quite noiselessly however. Its beak 
is not adapted for hammering ; it confines its attention therefore 
to such insects as live on the surface of the bark. It utters a low 
“ cheep’, and proceeds, not ina straight line up the tree, but turning 
to the right or left according as it descries a probable lurking-place 
of its prey: presently it disappears on the other side of the trunk, 
and again comes in view a few feet higher up. Now it reaches a 
