624 HISTORY OF THE 



closely, the female soon after, in some way, eluded my sight, and 

 mysteriously disappeared, but the male remained in the immedi- 

 ate vicinity, singing at frequent intervals. Being convinced that 

 they must have a nest somewhere near, I instituted a careful 

 search among the dead trees that stood around, and at length 

 detected a scale of loose bark, within which was crammed a 

 suspicious-looking mass of twigs and other rubbish. A vigor- 

 ous rapping upon the base of the trunk producing no effect, I 

 climbed to the spot, and was about to tear off the bark when 

 the frightened Creeper darted out within a few inches of my 

 face, and the next moment I looked in upon the eggs. 



"The tree selected was a tall dead fir, that stood in the shal- 

 low water just outside the edge of the living forest, but sur- 

 rounded by numbers of its equally unfortunate companions. 

 Originally killed by inundation, its branches had long ago yielded 

 to the fury of the winter storms, and the various destroying 

 agents of time had stripped off the greater part of the bark, until 

 only a few persistent scales remained to chequer the otherwise 

 smooth, mast-like stem. One of these, in process of detachment, 

 had started away from the trunk below, while its upper edges 

 still retained a comparatively firm hold, and within the space 

 thus formed the cunning little architect had constructed her nest. 

 The whole width of the opening had first been filled with a mass 

 of tough but slender twigs (many of them at least six inches in 

 length), and upon this foundation the nest proper had been con- 

 structed. It was mainly composed of the fine inner bark of 

 various trees, with an admixture of a little Usnea moss and a 

 number of spider's cocoons. The whole mass was firmly but 

 rather loosely put together, the different particles retaining their 

 proper position more from the adhesion of their rough surfaces 

 than by reason of any special arrangement or interweaving. 

 The general shape of the structure necessarily conformed nearly 

 with that of the space within which it was placed, but a remark- 

 able feature was presented by the disposition of the lateral ex- 

 tremities. These were carried upward to a height of several 

 inches above the middle of the nest, ending in long, narrow 

 points or horns, which gave to the whole somewhat the shape 



