372 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Family CERTHID^. Creepers. 



This is an Old World family of about twelve species, of which 

 only one species with several varieties is found in America. They 

 creep upon the bark of trees, using the stiffened tail feathers as a 

 prop in climbing, like the Woodpeckers. The Creepers' are of 

 great service in destroying insects which lurk in the crevices of 

 bark. 



Genus Certhia lyinnseus. 



336. (726). CertJiia familiaris amcricana (Bonaparte). Brown 

 Creeper. 



The Brown Creeper is abundant as a migrant and tolerably 

 common as a winter resident in nearly all portions of the state, 

 although it is rather rare and irregular in winter in the northern 

 parts of Iowa. It is usually found from the latter part of Sep- 

 tember until the last of April, and very rarely remains during the 

 summer. The only authentic record of its nesting in Iowa was 

 reported by Burtis R. Wilson (Oologist, x, 9, 1893, P- 260). He 

 found a nest containing three newly-hatched young on an island 

 in the Mississippi River five miles below Davenport, May 10, 1891; 

 nest fifteen feet up, behind a loose strip of bark hanging to the 

 side of a large dead willow stub. Both birds were seen to visit 

 the nest with food for the young. A. I. Johnson reports the 

 Brown Creeper as a summer resident, nesting, in Polk county; 

 Dr. G. C. Rich reports it as a rare resident in Woodbury county; 

 and Dr. I. S- Trostler as a scarce resident in Pottawattamie and 

 Mills counties. "Trostler has evidence of its breeding near 

 Omaha, rarely" (Rev. Birds Neb., p. no). 



The Creeper pays little attention to observers, creeping up in 

 spirals around a tree-trunk, then dropping to the foot of another 

 tree, occasionally uttering a few squeaky notes. 



Family SITTID^. Nuthatches. 



The Nuthatches are represented by two species in Iowa, one 

 resident and one migratory. They are the most agile of Creep- 

 ers, clinging to the tree-trunks and larger branches in every im- 

 aginable po.sition, with the head downward as readily as upward. 

 They cling to the bark by the feet alone, deriving no support 

 from the tail. They are chiefly in.sectivorous, but acorns, beech- 

 nuts, etc., are occasionally opened. 



