208 Brewster on the American Brown Creeper. 



one of the party, " began to circle round his head with reproachful 

 cries, and continued to keep so close to him that it was impossible 

 to shoot one without mutilating it." This behavior was strikingly 

 at variance with that displayed by any of the several pairs whose 

 nests I took during the past season. When started off, the females 

 usually alighted against the trunk of the nearest tree and in per- 

 fect silence, watched me as I detached the nest and packed the 

 eggs. Upon my withdrawing a little distance, they ordinarily re- 

 turned at once and confidently alighted at the place where the bark- 

 scale had formerly rested. After scanning the bare stem for a 

 moment they became uneasy, and hurriedly climbed upward for a 

 yard or two, then, dropping to the former level, ascended again. At 

 length, after repeated search, a few chirps were given, when the 

 male appeared, and both birds went over the ground, literally inch 

 by inch, closely examining the trunk from its base to the very top. 

 On the only occasion when I remained in the vicinity to watch the 

 denouement, they desisted from their efforts after about an hour's 

 search, and carelessly strayed ofi" into the forest, the female feeding as 

 she went, and the male singing freely as before. Moreover, in the 

 case of the nest with young, I purposely placed myself at the foot 

 of the tree, and even partially pried off the bark that sheltered the 

 nest, without exciting any visible apprehension on the part of the 

 parents, who simply watched me in motionless and apparently 

 apathetic silence. In view of these facts the conduct of the pair 

 observed by Dr. Brewer, may probably be regarded as of individual 

 rather than specific significance. 



In regard to the question of Southern distribution, I can offer 

 nothing new. I am, however, decidedly of the opinion that the 

 Brown Creeper — in the Atlantic States at least — is strictly a bird 

 of the Canadian Fauna, and while, with several other companion 

 species, it may yet be found breeding at a sufficient elevation on 

 mountain ranges far to the southward, the occurrence of nests in 

 the lower portions of Massachusetts may probably be considered as 

 purely exceptional. Many similar examples might be instanced, as 

 the breeding in Coimecticut of Dendrceca ccerulescens, and Ereunetes 

 pusillus, and the occasional nesting in Massachusetts of Myiodioctes 

 canadensis ; but it is needless to multiply quotations, as it is now 

 pretty well understood that faunal lines must not be too strictly 

 drawn. Broadly speaking, then, the Brown Creeper occurs in the 

 three southern New England States only as a winter visitor, — one 



