68 CREEPERS. 



with small red spots. It is said, she is so much attached to her 

 eggs, that she never leaves them during the whole period of incu- 

 bation, and takes no other food than that brought to her by the 

 male. The young escape from the shell about the month of May, 

 and very soon retire to live by themselves. These birds feed on 

 insects, grains, hazel-nuts, beech-nuts, flax-seed, &c. The mode 

 of getting out the substance of the hazel-nuts, consists in fixing 

 them solidly in a crack, and then piercing them by repeated blows 

 with their beak. 



3. [In the United States we have the White-breasted Nuthatch, 

 Sitta carolinensis, which is lead colour, with the head and 

 neck black above, and pure white beneath ; the Red-bellied 

 Nuthatch, Sitt.a canadejisis, which is of a rust colour be- 

 neath, and some others ; all of which, in their general habits, 

 resemble the European species.] 



4. The CREEPERS, Certhia, have a beak of moderate length, 

 more or less arcuate, triangular, compressed and slender ; .their 

 nostrils, which are horizontally pierced, are half closed by an 

 arched membrane. 



5. The Creepers properly so called, Certhia, have a slanting 

 tail, which is furnished with stiff, sharp quills ; it serves to aid 

 them in climbing trees ; their tongue is sharp and adapted for 

 piercing insects upon which they feed. There is one species 

 found in Europe, and one in the United States. The European 

 Creeper, Certhia familiarly is a small bird which is met with 

 in different parts of Europe, as far north as Siberia ; it is con- 

 stantly climbing trees in pursuit of insects and larvae. The Brow.n 

 Creeper, Certhia atttericana, is of a dark gray varied with 

 white, brown and dusky ; white beneath ; the rump and tail 

 rusty. This industrious forager for insects, chiefly dwelling in 

 the seclusion of the forest, is but seldom seen in summer; but 

 on the approach of winter, with other hungry wanderers* of 

 similar habits, such as the small Woodpeckers and Nuthatches, 

 he makes his appearance on the wooded skirts of the village, 

 particularly among pine trees, and occasionally becomes familiar 

 enough to pay a passing visit to the orchard. The species is 

 neither common nor abundant, though their breeding range 

 extends from Pennsylvania to Newfoundland. 



3. What are the characters of the White-breasted Nuthatch ? What are 

 the characters of the Red-bellied Nuthatch? Where are these two species 

 found ? 



4. What are the characters of the Creepers t 



5. What are the characters of the Creeper properly so called? What is 

 the European Creeper ? What is the Brown Creeper ? What are the habits 

 of these birds ? 



