7<3 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



Subfamily Certhiinae. Typical Creepers. 



Our representative species may be readily re- 

 cognized by its stiff acuminate tail-feathers like 

 a woodpecker's. It is a restless little creature 

 which obtains a living by picking insects from the 

 crevices of bark. In scrambling about, the tail 

 serves as a support. 



Certhia familiaris, Vieillot. 



This Creeper is one of our commonest winter 

 occupants. It is almost exclusively confined to 

 dense forests, remote from human habitations. It 

 has been said by Dr. Brewer to visit the haunts of 

 man in the city of Boston, during the winter, where 

 it manifests all the tameness and confidence of Pa- 

 rns atricapillus. We have yet to record a single 

 instance in which it has shown such trustfulness. 

 It has always proved itself, according to our obser- 

 vations, to be a very suspicious and retired species, 

 seeming to shun rather than to court man's society. 



Fond of the society of the common Chickadee 

 and the smaller Picidce, among which it is usually 

 found, and despising the companionship of its own 

 kith and kin y its character appears singular and 

 exceptional. Instances are known to us where in- 

 dividuals have led a comparatively solitary and iso- 

 lated existence. It is a curious and interesting fact, 

 that its fondness for stranger species, closes with 

 the return of night. The following testimony 

 shows this to be the case. In ^ dense thicket 

 called " Dunnett's Woods," on the outskirts of Phil- 



