January 
of its bluish back and black collar. (Later in 
the year you will find two species of warblers 
reminding you of the nuthatch in their move- 
ments. ) 
If it hugs the trunk and is alway moving up- 
ward, either in straight lines or spirally, it is as 
certainly the brown creeper. Looking at this 
bird attentively you will see that its tail feathers 
are very stiff and sharp-pointed, and used as a 
means of propping itself as it ascends, which 
accounts for its always creeping upward. 
(The woodpeckers are larger, and have not the 
incessant motion of the creeper.) 
If, again, your specimen flies nimbly from twig 
to twig, and assumes all sorts of attitudes that 
would be grotesque if they were not consum- 
mately graceful, and above all, if a merry laugh 
tings out on the air as it busily explores the 
branches, then it is certainly the chickadee- 
dee—dee. The different movements of these 
species are explained by the fact that while the 
nuthatch supports itself entirely by its claws 
inserted in the bark, and the brown creeper by 
its claws and tail, the chickadee grasps the slen- 
der twigs, and therefore moves among the 
higher and smaller branches, and never on the 
trunk. 
33 
