148 Bird Comrades 



and branches of the trees with so much ease and grace. 

 He is the only warbler we have in eastern North America 

 that makes a habit of scaling the tree trunks and descend- 

 ing them head downward. How does he do this? The 

 muscles of his legs and * pel vis are as elastic as India 

 rubber, so that he can twist and twirl about in a mar- 

 velous way, pointing his head one moment to the east 

 and the next, without losing his hold, in the opposite 

 direction. He is able to swing himself around almost as 

 if he were hung on a pivot. 



But how does he hold himself on his shaggy wall as 

 he hitches head downward ? Just as the nuthatch does 

 not by keeping both feet directly under him, as most 

 people suppose, but by thrusting one foot slightly forward 

 and the other outward and backward, thus preserving 

 his balance at the same time that he holds himself 

 firmly with his sharp little claws to his upright wall. 

 Some of the pictures of the creeper seen in the books are 

 not quite true to creeper methods of clinging and loco- 

 motion, for they represent him as stuck to the bark of a 

 tree trunk with both feet invisible, presumably held 

 directly under his striped breast. In the real position it 

 is likely that one or both feet could be seen, the one thrust 

 forward and the other flung back and to one side. , At 

 least one foot would be visible, whatever the angle at 

 which the bird would be inspected, and from many points 

 of view both of his tiny feet may be plainly seen in the 

 position described. 



Our little striped friend, usually called in the books 



