74 PASSERES. CERTHIAD^:. 



" The brown Creeper is an extremely active and 

 restless little bird. In winter it associates with 

 the small spotted woodpecker, nut-hatch, tit- 

 mouse, &e. ; and often follows in their rear, glean- 

 ing up those insects which their more powerful 



bills had alarmed and exposed ; for its own 

 slender, incurvated bill seems unequal to the 

 task of penetrating into even the decayed wood ; 

 though it may enter into holes, and behind scales 

 of the bark. Of the Titmouse, there are gene- 

 rally present the individuals of a whole family, 

 and seldom more than one or two of the others. 

 As the party advances through the woods, from 



