THROUGH THE WOODS. 95 



of an aquatic nature, dead leaves, especially of 

 the oak, and lined with rootlets and hair. The 

 four or five eggs are mottled olive-green or olive- 

 brown, and sometimes exhibit one or two streaks 

 of blackish brown. The Nightingale arrives 

 in its summer haunts in April and leaves them in 

 September. 



As a rule the woods are not frequented by 

 our smaller birds so much as an inexperienced 

 observer might imagine. These little creatures 

 can find ample concealment and seclusion for 

 their needs in the shrubberies, the hedges, and 

 the thickets, and consequently a casual scrutiny of 

 the woods often ends in disappointment. Such 

 tiny birds as are there are hard to see among the 

 twigs and leaves, and none but the most patient 

 are rewarded by seeing much of their ways. 

 How hard, for instance, it is to find the Titmice, 

 the Creeper, and the Goldcrest during the summer, 

 only those know who have sought them at that 

 season in their leafy haunts. Even in winter- 

 time the CREEPER (Certhia familiaris), being a widely 

 remarkably silent species, is one of the easiest dl 

 birds to overlook. He may be identified by his 

 mottled brown and buff upper plumage, silvery 

 underparts, and his habit of creeping in a fly-like 

 manner up the tree-trunks and along the larger 

 limbs. In its habits it is very like the Wood- 

 peckers, climbing about the timber, searching for 

 insect life among the bark with its long slender 

 bill, and supporting itself meanwhile by its stiff 

 pointed tail. Its shrill note of weet is heard most 

 frequently in spring. The breeding season begins 

 in April, and the site for the nest is often behind 

 a piece of loose bark, in a crack in the trunk, or 



