AN OCTOBER DIARY. 288 



but not unfrequently is associated with the two nut- 

 hatches. It is the brown tree-creeper. A bird of another 

 genus, differing in many ways from a nuthatch, yet in its 

 habits essentially the same. In like manner, it searches 

 every nook and cranny of the bark of trees, for insects, 

 and chirps a whole-souled " tweet- tweet " whenever any 

 super-luscious morsel has been found. This leads me to 

 recall another fact. A simple chirp is not the entire 

 range of the creeper's vocal powers. Tliey can sing 

 sweetly when they choose, but are too busy, or do not 

 choose very often. 



Perhaps, less than any other bird, these creepers are 

 affected by extremes of heat and cold. I remember 

 seeing them in full activity during one of the hottest 

 days on record. "When, in the sun, tlie thermometer 

 ranged from 110° to 115° Fahrenheit, and all animate 

 creation was at least resting in the shade, these tree- 

 creepers were running full tilt about the trees, and as 

 often on the sunny as the shady side. Then again, when 

 the thermometer stood at —12° Fahrenheit, and with a 

 cutting northeast wind blowing, these same creepers 

 were not only busy in their searching for insects, but 

 once one of them sang as merrily as though it were a 

 May morning. The bird is a marvel in more ways than 

 one. 



Bats are unusually abundant this evening. Perhaps 

 they are looking for winter- quarters more anxiously 

 than for insects. While standing in the shadows of my 

 three beeches, I tried to count the creatures as they 

 passed. It was evident, in this case, that figures might 

 lie. Every one of these bats darted in and out in so 



