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 

 rings 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 



