Passeres 55 



but it is never particularly common, though it is well 

 known to country-folk as the Woodpecker, from its 

 habit of creeping up the trunks and branches of trees, 

 supported by its stiff -pointed tail feathers. The beak 

 and claws are long and curved. Though it will eat 

 seeds, the proper food consists of insects, in search of 

 which the Creeper works spirally up a tree, finally 

 flying off to begin at the base of another. It has 

 a very low sweet song and a sibilant call-note. The 

 nest has a foundation of small twigs below the main 

 material of a little roots, grass, or moss, the interior 

 being thickly lined with feathers, on which lie six or 

 more very thin-shelled white eggs with red and lilac 

 markings, like and yet unlike those of a Blue Tit. The 

 nest should be looked for behind loose slabs of bark, 

 but may be placed under eaves of sheds, in crevices 

 of walls, or even in the foundations of large birds' 

 nests, as is sometimes also the case with Tits. 



Family MOTACILLID^I, or Wagtails and Pipits 



A certain similarity may be observed between 

 Wagtails and Pipits in their general habits, notes, and 

 even nests and eggs, while systematists may now be 

 said, on anatomical grounds, to be unanimous in com- 

 bining them in one Family, though the Pipits have un- 

 doubted affinity with the Larks as well. The Wagtails 

 are slim, lively, and confiding little creatures, with jerky 

 undulating flight and a characteristic habit of keeping 

 the hinder part of the body in constant motion when 

 on the ground. It is very amusing to watch them on 

 a grassy flat or a garden lawn ; they make impetuous 

 darts after insects for a yard or two, suddenly stop and 

 almost fall forward on their heads to secure their fly or 



