92 CERTHIID^E : CREEPERS. 



eggs so late as the 23d of June. The eggs are from 

 5 to 8 in number, measuring 0.55 to 0.60 in length by 

 0.45 to 0.50 in breadth ; they are dull white, finely 

 dotted with reddish-brown, with or without a few 

 larger and paler spots, especially about the greater 

 end. The difference in the times when fresh eggs 

 have been found leads to the inference that two broods 

 may be reared annually. 



As Mr. Brewster says (/. .), "the following con- 

 cise record of all the nests taken during the season of 

 1879 wu *l illustrate the somewhat variable times at 

 which the different sets of eggs were deposited : May 

 31, nest with set of six eggs, incubation about five 

 days: June 5, nest with six eggs, incubation about 

 six days ; June 14, nest with five young, which were 

 perhaps a week old ; June 19, nest with four fresh 

 eggs, a complete set, as the bird laid no additional 

 ones, though left unmolested for two days longer. 

 This clutch may possibly have been a second laying 

 by the pair robbed on May 31, as the site was only a 

 few hundred yards distant. June 23, nest with four 

 fresh eggs, locality several miles away from that of 

 any of the preceding." 



