THE CREEPER. 11 



quantity of very fine twigs. The number of eg-g-s varies 

 from four or five up to seven or eig-lit. They are of a 

 white colour^ spotted — sometimes at the thick end, 

 and sometimes all over — with reddish, or reddish-brown. 

 The young ones are hatched in about a fortnight, and 

 generally make their appearance about the beginning of 

 May. The Creeper rears two broods in the year, according 

 to Naumann ; but the second brood is not so large as the 

 first, usually numbering from three to five. 



Woods and plantations are the comm on resorts of the 

 Creeper, but it may be seen very often by the careful observer 

 in those quiet country lanes where old and isolated trees are 

 found alono; the hedgeside. According to some authorities 

 the Creeper may be observed, usually in the morning and 

 evening, by the side of watercourses and ditches, either for 

 the purpose of drinking or bathing. 



The length of this bird is from five to five and a quarter 

 inches ; the bill is long, slender, and curved downwards, the 

 upper part being ridged and larger than the lower ; the 

 lower mandible is a dull yellowish- white, the upper, dusky- 

 brown. The irides are brown, and a white streak runs over 

 the e^'^e to the nape, where it ends in a spot. The sides of 

 the head, the crown and neck, are brownish-ash colour, with 

 dull white spots and markings of a yellowish shade ; a 

 dusky streak runs backwards from the eye. Chin and 

 throat are white; breast, a soiled silvery- white, yellowish 

 on the lower part and the sides. Back resembles the 

 neck. The wings are dusky, the feathers of the coverts 

 l)eing tipped with white. A band of yellowish-white runs 

 across a portion of the wing, which forms a straight line 

 when the wing is extended, and a wavy mark when it is 

 closed. 



