BIRDS OF NEW YORK 493 



minutes. The same is true of the upper Catskills. In the remainder of 

 the State it is only a local summer resident. Reported as a common breeder 

 in central New York by Fowler (Forest and Stream 6, 180); near Buffalo 

 by Ottomar Reinecke and James Savage; from Oneida county by Ralph 

 and Bagg (Auk, 6:232); from Hamilton by Maxon (Auk, 20:266); Peter- 

 boro by Gerritt S. Miller; Montezuma and Canandaigua inlet by E. H. 

 Eaton; West Seneca (Erie county) and West Barre (Orleans county) by 

 James Savage; and from Potter swamp (Yates county) by Burtch and 

 Stone. 



Haunts and habits. During migration, the Brown creeper is abundant 

 throughout our woods, groves and shade trees, sometimes as many as 20 

 or 30 individuals being seen in a single dooryard or small parkland in the 

 midst of our villages and cities. All observers from the time of Giraud 

 and Audubon agree with Doctor Mearns in the facts embodied in his apt 

 description of its habits: ' The creeper is usually a tame bird, paying 

 less heed to its admirers than to the capture of insects that infest the bark 

 of trees; that being the main purpose of its life. With that object in view, 

 it alights at the base of a tree and begins to ascend in a spiral ; in this manner 

 it advances until the trunk and principal branches have been explored, when, 

 having reached the top, it spreads its wings and with a direct, sweeping 

 movement, attaches itself to the extreme base of another tree, and the 

 same performance is repeated. Thus the creeper has many ups and downs 

 in its life though, on the whole, it is a monotonous career of labor; but 

 in spite of this, the bird is interesting and its habits have a certain fascina- 

 tion. Its somber colors serve an excellent purpose for concealment, 

 matching so well those of the trees upon which it lives as to make it very 

 inconspicuous. Its long, slender, curved bill seems ill-adapted as a means 

 of musical expression and, indeed, I never suspected it of possessing such 

 attributes until one day I discovered it was the author of a very pleasant 

 song." Mr Brewster says: " In its summer home, amid the northern 

 spruces and firs, it has an exquisitely pure and tender song of four notes, 

 the first of moderate pitch, the second lower and less emphatic, the third 



