120 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



the Common Wren. These we shall proceed to notice. 

 They form as it were the connecting link between the In- 

 sessorial and Scansorial Orders. 



THE COMMON CREEPER. Certhiafamiliaris* This beau- 

 tiful bird is one of our smallest species, and is by no means 

 uncommon in woods, or parks with aged timber, where it 

 may be seen, by glimpses, spirally ascending the trunks of 

 trees, and generally contriving to be on that side which is 

 opposite to the observer. When it has examined one tree it 

 descends to the root of another, on which it again com- 

 mences its course upward : its search is for those insects 

 which lurk in the crevices of the bark or of the decayed 

 wood, and upon which it feeds. It is general in its occur- 

 rence throughout Europe, and by some distinguished orni- 

 thologists the American species is believed to be identical 

 with it. It breeds early in the spring, in holes of decayed 

 trees, and forms its nest of dried grass, moss, etc., lined 

 with feathers. The eggs, from six to nine, are white, spotted 

 with red, and closely resemble in their appearance those of 

 the Willow Wren and of the Blue Titmouse. 



THE NUTHATCH. Sitta Europaa. If our readers have 

 gardens with a few filbert-trees in them, and have not yet 

 noticed the visits of the Nuthatch, we should like to in- 



