JAN., 1909. BIRDS OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN CORY. 



6 93 



Family CERTHIID^. Creepers. 



The Certhiidae comprise a small group of a dozen species, only 

 one of which (with its various subspecies) occurs in North America. 

 It is an active, graceful little bird, climbing about the trunks of trees 

 and using its stiff tail feathers much after the manner of a woo'd- 

 pecker. It feeds on insects and larvae, and builds its nest in holes 

 in trees. 



Genus CERTHIA Linn. 



348. Certhia familiaris americana (BONAP.). 

 BROWN CREEPER. 



Distr.: Eastern North America, west to the Plains and north to 

 Newfoundland, Ontario, and Manitoba, and probably much farther 

 north, breeding from the mountains of western North Carolina, Mis- 

 souri, northern Indiana, and Nebraska northward; south in winter 

 to south Atlantic and Gulf states, except southern Florida. 



Adult: Tail feathers, stiff and pointed; upper parts, dark brown, 

 thickly streaked with dull white; rump, rusty brown; a conspicuous 



Brown Creeper. 



tawny white bar on the middle of primaries (except the first three) ; 

 under parts, dull white or ashy white, usually faintly tinged with 

 brownish on flanks and under tail coverts. Sexes similar. 



Length, 5.50; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.70; bill, .56. 



The Brown Creeper is a common migrant and more or less common 



