THE TAWNY CREEPER. 
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angel ditty lisped in the tree-tops where the tender green fir fronds melt into 
the sky—some Warbler, I guess; the Hermit, perhaps, rounding out his unsaid 
devotions. And again, Ree bus wit v6, swee” like a garland of song caught 
oe 
up at either end and made fast to the ether. No! Would you believe it! 
It is our prosy clerkling! He has turned fay, and goes carolling about his 
task as blithely as a bejewelled artiste with nothing to do. Love? Yes; 
love of the woods, for it is the mid- 
dle of September. 
All of which leads me to apologize 
for the rude epithets previously used ; 
for one who can sing belongs to the 
immortals; and never again will we 
judge a brother harshly, for who 
knows the vaulting heart of the 
seeming plodder! 
The ordinary, working note of 
the Tawny Creeper is a _ faint 
tsip, and this is varied from time 
to time by a longer double note, 
tsue tsee (of a resonant quality 
which cannot be made to appear 
in the transcript). This latter it 
is which one can never quite cer- 
tainly distinguish from that of the 
Western Golden-crowned Linglet. 
The full song is, indeed, very 
sweet and dainty, with a bit of 
a plaintive quality, which serves to 
distinguish it from the utterances 
of the Wood Warblers, once you are 
accustomed. 
Taken near Tacoma. Photo by Bowles and Dawson. 
TAWNY CREEPER APPROACHING NEST. 
THE MOTHER'S BEAK IS LADEN WITH GOOD THINGS. 
A knowledge of the Creeper’s nesting habits would be quite unattainable 
were the bird to choose the tree-tops ; but with characteristic humility it seeks 
the lower levels at the nesting season, so that one need not look much above 
his head in searching for its nest. 
The first one found was at the edge of the forest overlooking a woodland 
road near Tacoma. We came upon a pair of the birds gleaning from the 
neighboring trees and calling encouragement to each other as they proceeded. 
We were not long in divining their local attachments; and finally, after several 
feints, the mother bird flew to an isolated tree at the very edge of the woods, 
where investigation disclosed a piece of bark warped and sprung by fire, 
