308 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



bark in which they hide escape the sharp eye of the birds, 

 and naturally their offspring resemble them. In this way 

 nature is always busy helping the creatures adapt them- 

 selves to the hard situation in which they find themselves. 

 The strange thing is that any of these insects escape. I 

 am sure my willow tree was hunted over regularly a dozen 

 times every day for months not only by the brown creepers 

 and the white-breasted nuthatch, but also by a dozen or 

 more black-capped chickadees and at least one pair of 

 downy woodpeckers, with a flicker and an occasional hairy 

 woodpecker for good measure. 



The brown creeper appeared to be the most expert of 

 them all in creeping over trees and gathering insects. He 

 certainly moved much more rapidly over the tree. In 

 fact, he seemed fairly to run as he went about his work, 

 occasionally stopping long enough to give a happy little 

 chirp. 



These birds were jolly little creatures, not in the least 

 selfish or ill natured; for should the chickadees or the 

 nuthatch appear on the tree when the creepers were there, 

 they made no protest whatever, but all worked together, 

 each willing to take what he could find, doubtless 

 feeling that the bounties of nature belong to all alike and 

 that the one who is the most industrious will win in the 

 end. As I stated in the last story, the nuthatch seldom 

 worked on anything but the trunk, leaving the limbs for 

 the chickadees; but this was not true of the brown creeper. 

 He would often run along on the under side of limbs, look- 

 ing almost like a mouse running across the top of a beam, 

 so rapidly did he go, yet he always kept a sharp lookout for 

 anything to eat. 



He seemed methodical in his work, usually going rourid 



