THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 45 



Creeper, Black and White. Sea Black and White 

 Warbler. 



Creeper, Brown. Length, five inches; extent, seven 

 inches; bill, two-thirds of an inch; head, brownish black; 

 back, brown with yellow and white streaks; breast, gray- 

 ish white; belly, white; tail, pale grayish brown; upper 

 wing, brownish black, with whitish brown bars; under 

 wing, dusky white and black; legs and feet, a dirty clay 

 color. 



The nest of this bird is located behind the loose bark of 

 a tree and made of twigs, bark and moss very closely re- 

 sembling the color of the place it is built on. The eggs 

 are from five to eight in number, three-fifths by one-half 

 inches in size, white, with brown spots; sometimes with a 

 pink tinge. 



It breeds from the northern border of the United States 

 northward and also further south on the higher moun- 

 tains, and in winter is distributed throughout the eastern 

 United States. In New Jersey it is a common winter 

 resident, arriving about the middle of September and re- 

 maining until about the middle of April. 



Although in the north it is said to render exquisite 

 song, in New Jersey it is confined to a few squeaky notes. 

 In fact the bird does not seem to have time to sing, his 

 whole existence apparently being taken up looking for in- 

 sects and larvae in trees. It ascends the tree, beginning 

 at the very root and encircling it as it goes up; when it 

 reaches the top it drops down to the root of another tree 

 and thus keeps up a continual pilgrimage, ever alert for 

 food. 



Crossbill, American, or Red Crossbill. Length, 

 five and three-quarter inches; extent, nine inches; bill, 

 two-thirds of an inch. This bird is a very irregular vis- 

 itor in New Jersey, occasionally occurring in winter in 

 small flocks,' but generally confining itself to mountain- 



