I 86 Kennard and McKechnie, Brown Creeper. |Apr 



"This nest," Mr. Brewster adds, "was discovered on April 26, 

 when it was finished, but empty. There were three eggs on May 

 6, and six on May 13." 



So, with only the above records, while it has been generally 

 accepted that the Brown Creeper breeds not uncommonly in 

 certain western and higher portions of the State, 1 it has not been 

 conceded that they breed otherwise than accidentally in the 

 eastern and lower portions of the State. 



The writers of this paper have, however, long been of the opin- 

 ion that the Brown Creeper was not so rare, in certain portions at 

 least of eastern Massachusetts, as was generally supposed. 



A pair of Creepers had been seen during several breeding sea- 

 sons in the late 8o's, about a certain woodland near a swamp not 

 far from the home of Mr. Kennard at Brookline, Mass. Not, at 

 this time, knowing how or where or when their nests should be 

 hunted, his searches were unsuccessful, and not being aware of 

 their supposed rarity at this season, we regret to say no record of 

 the dates was kept. 



Mr. McKechnie had noted in a swamp at Canton, Mass., on 

 May 13, 1898, one bird, which, from its peculiar actions, he sup- 

 posed had a nest nearby. He saw Creepers again in this same 

 swamp in one of the succeeding years, the date of which, however, 

 has been lost, and noted a pair of them there still later on May n, 

 1902, while on May 28, 1903, in this same swamp, he chanced 

 upon a nest with young, while hunting for the nest of a Canadian 

 Warbler ( Wilso?iia canadensis). 



He was watching a pair of Warblers, when his attention was 

 attracted by a Brown Creeper moving quickly, and apparently 

 anxiously, from tree to tree, gathering something in her bill, either 

 nesting material or food. All at once he saw two birds instead of 

 one, and they appeared to have a strong liking for a certain group 

 of young hemlocks, till suddenly one of them disappeared, and 



1 See Walter Faxon, 'The Summer Birds of Berkshire County, Mass.,' The 

 Auk, Vol. VI, April, 18S9 ; Faxon and Hoffmann, 'The Birds of Berkshire 

 County, Mass.,' in ' Collections of the Berkshire Historical and Scientific Soci- 

 ety,' published by the society in 1900; and Howe and Allen, 'The Birds of 

 Massachusetts,' p. 90. 



