58 Tyler, Brown Creeper in Massachusetts. [jan. 



ground. The bark lies closer to the trunk than on the other tree, — 

 the cavity behind it is therefore smaller. Already pieces of wood 

 and, I think, a feather protrude from a crevice below where the nest 

 is to be. Once the male comes to the tree, but he does not bring 

 nesting material." 



"June 1, 8:30-10 a. m. The birds have abandoned the nest 

 on which the female was working yesterday in favor of a new site 

 25 yards to the south of the original nest. The new site (No. 3) 

 is in the same hollow as the first nest; the tree (a black oak) is 

 smaller, but as was the case in both the other trees, it is dead and 

 much of the bark still clings to it. The nest is already well under 

 way. Our attention was attracted to it by the material projecting 

 beneath a loose cuff-shaped bit of bark which nearly encircles the 

 tree. At two points, one above the nest and the other below it, 

 the cuff is attached to larger areas of unseparated bark. The 

 birds enter the cavity from above. The entrance is six inches above 

 the nest and eight feet from the ground. The male sings freely 

 this morning and much of the time remains in the vicinity of the 

 nest, often accompanying the female on her excursions for nesting 

 material. When we first came upon the pair, the female was mak- 

 ing long flights from the nest. She brought in bits of bark and some 

 fuzzy material (fern down or caterpillar webbing). We saw her col- 

 lect also bits of bark from nearby trees. Twice at least the male 

 brought material and delivered it (bark or dead wood) to the female 

 who was in the nest cavity. The female made half a dozen long 

 flights, returning every two minutes. Then she flew eight times 

 in the next ten minutes to a very small dead white pine a few yards 

 away and returned each time with one or more fine twigs. Often 

 after returning with a twig six inches long, she had some difficulty 

 in forcing it through the entrance hole. She was wise enough, how- 

 ever, to turn her head so that the twig might slip in end first. Once, 

 when she brought in a beakf ul of fern down, the material kept catch- 

 ing on the rough bark and tripping her up, but by bending her neck 

 backward she was able to hold the stuff clear of the bark. In her 

 trips to the little dead pine, the Creeper always alighted on the 

 slender trunk, but in order to reach the terminal twigs she had to 

 hop out on the smaller branches. Sometimes, when these were 

 very small, she perched crosswise upon them; often she crawled 



