128 NOkTH AMKKK'AX lURD.S. 



witli a pistol loadeil with the finest sliot. Its niat«» couhl liave been secured, 

 ivs she persisted in imrsuiii'jj them, hut she was not molested. Throuj^hout 

 there w.is not a trace of timidity on the part of eitlier hird, hut the most 

 reckless and daring devotion. 



J^sides the single call-note or the sharp outcry with which the C'reejuTs 

 signalize their movements, and which they utter from time to time as they 

 rai)idly and husily move up and down the trunks tind limhs, or tlit from tree 

 to tree, they have heen generally regarded as having no song. But this is not 

 the fact. The careful oh.servations of ^^r. William I>rewster of Cambridge 

 have satisfied him that these hirds have a very tlistinct and varied song. Dur- 

 ing the winter these hirds are not uncommon in the vicinity of Uoston, coming 

 al)out the houses with all the tameness antl confidence of the /V/v^.s- ntncapil- 

 Ills, and i)ermit a very near approach. They are very easily attracted by sus- 

 pending from a jiiazza a piece of fat neat. Mr. Hrewster has observed them 

 commence singing as early as the 14th of March. Their notes are varied 

 and warbling and somewhat confused ; some of them are loiul, powerful, and 

 surpassingly sweet, others are more feeble and jdaintive ; their song usually 

 ends with their accustomed cry, which may l>e represented hy cree-cree- 

 cre-ep. Mr. IJrewster, l>esides rej)eate<lly hearing them sing in Massachusetts 

 in the early spring, has also listened to their song in Maine in the month of 

 June. 



Their eggs are small in proportion to the size of the bird, are nearly oval 

 in shaj^e, with a grayish-white ground, sparingly sprinkled with small, fine, 

 red and reddish-brown spots. They measure .bo by A'^ of an inch. 



Certhia familiaris, var. mexicana, Glog. 



MEXICAN CSEEFEB. 



Ccrthin mcricana, "Glooek, Handbuch," REirHExnArn, Hamlbiuh, I, 1853, 265, pi. 

 dlxii, tigs. 3841, 3842. — Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, 290; 1858, 297; 1859, 362, 372. 

 — Salvix, Ibis, 1866, 190 (Volcan de Fuego, Gnat.). — Baikd, Birds N. Am. 1858, 

 373 (under C. americami), pi. Ixxxiii, fig. 2 : Review, 90. 



Sp. Char. Ground-color above very dark sopia-brown, each feather with a sharply 

 defined medial streak of grayish-white, thejte streaks becoming broader posteriorly, where 

 they are discontinued at the lieginning of the rump. Whole rump and upper tail-coverts 

 chestnut-rufous. Beneath pale ashy, becoming almost white on the throat ; crissal feath- 

 ers deep ochraceous except at the tips, which are whitish. Markings of the wings as 

 usual. Measurements (8176, Mexico) : wing, 2.50 ; tail, 2.70 ; bill (from nostril), .48 ; 

 hind claw, ..30. 



Hab. Guatemala and Mexico; probably extending along the table-lands into the 

 United States. 



This is one of the best marked of the various races that have been dis- 

 cussed (see p. 124). The ground-color of the upper parts is altogether darker 

 than in any of the others, and the streaks are more sharply defined and nar- 



