MINOR SONGSTERS. 163 



all day for his daily bread ; and yet even of 

 him it is true that " the life is more than meat." 

 He has his inward joys, his affectionate de- 

 lights, which no outward infelicity can touch. 

 A bird who thinks nothing of staying by his 

 nest and his mate at the sacrifice of his life is 

 not to be written down a dullard or a drudge, 

 merely because his dress is plain and his occu- 

 pation unromantic. He has a right to sing, for 

 he has something within him to inspire the 

 strain. 



There are descriptions of the creeper's music 

 which liken it to a wren's. I am sorry that 

 I have myself heard it only on one occasion : 

 then, however, so far was it from being wren- 

 like that it might rather have been the work of 

 one of the less proficient warblers, a some- 

 what long opening note followed by a hurried 

 series of shorter ones, the whole given in a 

 sharp, thin voice, and having nothing to recom- 

 mend it to notice, considered simply as music. 

 All the while the bird kept on industriously 

 with his journey up the tree ; and it is not in 

 the least unlikely that he may have another 

 and better song, which he reserves for times of 

 more leisure. 1 



Our American w?>od-warblers are all to be 



1 Since this was written I have heard the creeper sing a tune 

 very different from the one described above. See p. 227. 



