THE AN AN A QUIT. 81 



again takes its stand on a pinnacle. Again, you perceive several Wagtails flying in a wavering and 

 buoyant manner over the rushes that skirt a large pool. It is a calm bright evening, the Coots are 

 swimming about among the reeds and horsetails, uttering now and then their short, loud, trumpet -like 

 cry, and the White-romped Swallows are glancing along, now dipping lightly into the water to seize a 

 fly, then darting here and there amongst the tiny insects that sport over the rank weeds. A Wagtail 

 tries an excursion over the water, and although its flight does not equal that of the Swallow in elegance 

 and velocity, it yet performs its task with considerable grace, flutters here awhile, seizing a few 

 insects, sweeps away in a curve, as if to acquire sufficient speed to keep it up without fluttering, turns 

 suddenly, then shoots forth in a straight line, and thus continues for several minutes, until at length, 

 fatigued, it betakes itself to the top of the stone wall, where it rests a little, and then commences a new 

 excursion. Not unfrequently it may be seen running along the roof of a house in search of insects, 

 which it seizes in the manner of the Flycatcher or Redstart. Often also it is to be found among rocks, 

 and it is not uncommon in the streets of country villages, where it searcnes for insects, chiefly along 

 the gutters." 



Under the heading of a " Season Ticket," the following story went the round of the papers in 

 the summer of 1878 : "It may be interesting to some of your readers to be informed that on a 

 small piece of framework underneath a, third-class smoking carriage on the London and South Western 

 Railway, a Water Wagtail has built her nest and reared a young and thriving family of four. The 

 train runs regularly from Cosham to Havant five times a day, in all about forty miles ; and the 

 station-master informs me that during the absence of the train the male bird keeps close to the 

 spot, waiting with manifest interest and anxiety the return of his family from their periodical 

 tours." 



THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE FINCH-LIKE BIEDS. THE C^EREBID^E. 



AMERICAN CREEPERS. 



There is a great difference in the outward aspect of the American Creepers and the true 

 Creepers of the Old World, which have spiny tails ; the former rather approach the Nuthatches, like 

 which birds, most of them have soft-feathered, squared tails. In fact, in Southern and Central 

 America there is a genus Diglossa, which is wonderfully like Sitta in appearance, but with a hooked 

 and rather upturned bill. To the present family belong also the pretty little Blue Creepers, 

 which are so often mounted in glass shades, and seen, alas ! on hundreds of ladies' bonnets, and which 

 are remarkable for their vivid blue colour and yellow-spotted wings. Another interesting group is 

 seen in the genus Certhiola, the members of which are principally Central American, though some 

 species extend southwards as far as Brazil. 



THE BANANA QUIT (Certhiola flaveola). 



For the habits of this interesting little bird, a reference must be made to the well-known 

 work of Mr. Gosse on the "Birds of Jamaica."* "Scarcely larger than the average size of the 

 Humming-birds, this little Creeper is often seen in company with them, probing the same 

 flowers and for the same purpose, but in a very different manner. Instead of hovering in 

 front of each blossom, a task to which his short wings would be utterly incompetent, the Quit 

 alights on the tree, and proceeds in the most business-like manner to peep into the flowers, 

 hopping actively from twig to twig, and throwing the body into all positions, often clinging by the 

 feet, with the back downwards, the better to reach the interior of a blossom with his curved beak 

 and pencilled tongue. The minute insects which are always found in the interior of flowers are 

 the objects of his search and the reward of his perseverance. Unsuspectingly familiar, these 

 birds often resort to the blossoming shrubs of gardens and yards. A large moringa tree, that is 

 all through the year profusely set with fragrant spikes of bloom, is a favoiirite resort both of these 

 and the Humming-birds. One within a few feet of my window is, while I write this note, being 

 carefully scrutinised by two active little creatures that pursue their examination with a zeal 

 perfectly undisturbed by my looking on, while the same blossoms are rifled on one side by a 



* " Birds of Jamaica," p. 84. 



