COMMON CREEPER. 171 



wards. Feet with three toes before, one behind ; the claws long, curved, 

 and sharp ; the outer toe united by a membrane to the middle toe at its 

 base. 



THE little Common Creeper, with the Wren, the Golden 

 Crests, and the Chiff Chaffs, are among the smallest of our 

 British Birds ; and the first of these, the subject of the pre- 

 sent article, though rather numerous as a species, is not 

 very readily distinguishable in its natural haunts when 

 climbing the trunks and branches of trees, partly from the 

 small size and brown colour of the bird itself, and partly 

 from its habit, when approached, of shifting round to the 

 opposite side of the stem, like the Woodpeckers. The 

 little Creeper, aided by its long, curved, and sharp claws, 

 and assisted also by twelve rather elongated and stiff tail- 

 feathers, is an excellent climber, running rapidly in any 

 direction over the rough bark, searching for small insects of 

 all sorts, picking them out of the various crevices with its 

 slender beak, and, having traced its course over one tree, 

 takes flight to the next for the same purpose, generally be- 

 ginning low down towards the base of the tree. This bird 

 inhabits groves, plantations, and parks, appearing to be 

 partial to the examination, in rapid succession, of a num- 

 ber of trees planted near each other, as when forming an 

 avenue. 



The Creeper makes its nest in a hollow tree, generally 

 for security choosing one with a very small external aper- 

 ture, but sometimes forming its nest on the inner side of 

 the loose bark of a decayed tree : the vignette at the end 

 exhibits an instance of a nest of this latter sort, for the 

 opportunity of figuring which I am indebted to the kind- 

 ness of T. F. Robinson, Esq., of Havering Atte Bower, 

 Essex : the nest was taken on the estate attached to the 

 Bower House. It is supported on the inner surface of a 

 thick piece of the bark of an elm which has been detached 



