470 CERTHIID^E. 



borne in the miscellaneous observations selected from his 

 manuscripts and published in Jesse's ' Gleanings' (ii. p. 170), 

 the bird will build its nest behind the loose plaster of a 

 wall. In general no preference is shewn for a lining of a 

 sombre hue. The Treecreeper is an early breeder, laying 

 from six to nine eggs in the month of April : they measure 

 from '68 to -58 by from '48 to "45 in., and are white, spotted 

 or blotched with reddish-brown, and occasionally with dull 

 purple, interspersed with numerous fine dots, very generally 

 confined to the larger end, but sometimes extending over the 

 whole surface. The song of the Treecreeper is loud and 

 pleasing, though not often heard, and pitched in a high, 

 shrill key. Its notes have been compared to those of the 

 Golden-crested Wren, the family -parties of which species it 

 often accompanies, especially in winter. 



The Treecreeper is distributed generally over Great Britain, 

 and those districts in Ireland in which old wood prevails, 

 but it has not been satisfactorily traced to the Inner Hebrides, 

 and is undoubtedly absent from the Outer islands of that 

 group, though it has been occasionally found in Orkney. If 

 it is migratory with us its movements have not attracted 

 attention. In Norway it is common in the lower fir-woods, at 

 least as far as Trondhjem ; in Sweden it reaches Meddel- 

 pad, and though not common, is a resident in about the same 

 latitude in Finland. In north-western Russia it is said to 

 be not rare, and thence it is found, but apparently only at 

 intervals, across to the Sea of Ochotsk and in Japan. -Its 

 southern limits in Asia are unknown, but it has occurred at 

 Pekin in winter, and Mr. Swinhoe says the specimens are 

 indistinguishable from our own. In Europe it is found near 

 Odessa, but only in winter, and in Turkey and Greece. As 

 to its appearance in Italy some doubt may be entertained, for 

 the Treecreeper there found has been regarded by many orni- 

 thologists as distinct, but it is said to breed in Algeria and 

 in the Iberian Peninsula. In France, Germany and the 

 adjacent countries it is sufficiently numerous. 



According to the older writers on American ornithology, 

 this bird was considered to inhabit the northern parts of the 



