1 5<S DAVENPORT ACADEMY 01 NATURAL SCIENCES. 



Genus CISTOTHORUS Cabanis. 



Si bgenus CISTOTHORUS. 



[B 269, R 68, C8l, U 724.I 

 Cistothorus stellar is (Licht.). Short-billed Marsh Wren. Summer 

 resident; rather common. Breeds in the prairie sloughs. 



Subgenus TELMATODYTES Cabanis. 



[B 268, R 67, 67 a, C 79, So. U 725.] 



Cistothorus palustris (Wils.). Long-billed Marsh Wren. Migratory; 

 common. Appears about the first week in May, about the prairie 

 sloughs, where it breeds. 



Family CERTHIIDiE. Creepers. 

 Genus CERTHIA Linn.kls. 

 [B 275. R 55, C 62, U 726.] 

 Certhia familiar is amer : cana (Bonap.). Brown Creeper. Migra- 

 tory; common; and resident from September to the last of April. A 

 sprightly little creature frequenting woodland, though seldom attracting 

 attention unless carefully sought for. Its plumage is nearly the hue of 

 the bark of many trees, so that it is almost impossible for the eye to 

 follow it after the bird has alighted and commenced ascending a tree. 

 It begins near the bottom, winds its way upward spirally, for, perhaps, 

 forty or fifty feet, when it suddenly drops to the foot of another tree 

 twenty or thirty yards away and repeats the manoeuvre, ever and anon 

 picking out some unfortunate insect larva from a crevice in the bark, 

 and uttering, at short intervals, its low, lisping notes. 



Family PARID/E. Nuthatches and Tits. 

 Subfamily SITTINiE. Nuthatches. 

 Genus SITTA Linnaeus. 

 [B 277, R 51, C 57, U 727.] 

 Sitta caroiinensis Lath. White -breasted Nut-hatch. Resident; 

 common. During the winter it is usually to be seen in company with 

 the chickadees. On the 15th of April, 1880, a set of five eggs of this 

 species wasiaken from a cavity thirty feet from the ground, in a large 

 white oak. The nest was visited quite frequently for the next two or 

 three weeks — until fifteen eggs had been taken. The bird was cap- 

 tured on the nest on three different occasions, and after being handled 

 carefully for a few minutes, set at liberty. 



[B 279, R 52, C 59, U 728.] 

 Sitta canadensis Linn. Red-breasted Nuthatch. Migratory; rare. 



