CREEPERS. 35 



FAMILY Certhiidae.— Creepers. 



55. CERTHIA FAMILIARIS RUFA. 



BROWN CREEI^ER. 



Mr. William Brewster has probably made more accurate obser- 

 vations upon the habits of this species than any other American 

 ornithologist. He states! that-the Brown Creeper is of regular oc- 

 currence during the breeding season throughout the heavily lim- 

 bered region bordering on Lake Umbagog, Western Maine, but 

 never an abundant species there. It is quoted that this bird breeds 

 in hollow trees, deserted holes of Woodpeckers, and in the decayed 

 stumps and branches of trees. "The eggs are small in proportion 

 to the size of the bird, are nearly oval in shape, with a grayish 

 white ground, sparingly sprinkled with small, fine, red and reddish- 

 brown spots. They measure .55 by .43 of an inch." 



The first nest discovered by Mr. Brewster, was found w^ithin a 

 scale of loose bark of a tall dead fir tree ; which was crammed with 

 a mass of twigs and other rubbish. *-••* *'The whole width of the 

 opening had been filled with a mass of tough but slender twigs 

 (many of them at least six inches in length), and upon this founda- 

 tion the nest proper had been constructed. It was mainly com- 

 posed of the fine inner bark of various trees, with an intermixture 

 of a little Usnea moss and a number of spiders' cocoons." Upon 

 examining a number of their nests, which he describes in detail, he 

 further observes : "With respect to their general plan of construc- 

 tion, all of the eight nests which I have examined were essentially 

 similar. Indeed, the uniform character of the nesting-sites chosen 

 by the different pairs of birds was not a little remarkable. 

 Thus, in every single instance that came under my observation, the 

 nest was placed on a balsam fir, though spruce, birch, or elm stubs 

 were often much more numerous, and frequently presented equally 

 good accommodations. Again, in no instance did the tree resorted 

 to retain more than three ©r four pieces of bark; while oftentimes 

 the scale that sheltered the nest was the only one that remained." 



tWilliam Brewater on the breeding habits of the American Brown Creeper: Buil. Nutt. Orn 

 Club, Got, 1879, pp. 199-209. 



