1913 BIRDS OF THE FRESNO DISTRICT 105 



Sierra Creeper. Certhia familiaris zelotes Osgood. 



The winter of 1910-11 was remarkable for the number of unusual visitants 

 among our avian friends, that appeared in the vicinity of Fresno. By no means 

 the least interesting of these were the little creepers, which occurred quite 

 numerously in the willow trees that border some of the larger ditches, and 

 doubtless elsewhere as well. December 26, 1910, and February 18, 191 1, were 

 the only days that I was able to spend in the country, but on each occasion creep- 

 ers were found along the Gould ditch near Clovis, where, for the first time, I 

 heard their squeaky, chattering song, if song it might be called. 



Nature has decreed that the creeper must seek its food, not among the 

 branches as the warblers do, but from the rough bark of the tree-trunk; and to 

 facilitate this she has provided them with sharp spine-like tail feathers, such 

 as the woodpeckers have, to assist in clinging to the tree as the bird hitches up 

 and around a tree trunk. The relatively wide, flat body of these little birds tends 

 to give them a certain resemblance to lizards, and the spotted brownish back 

 looks, at a little distance, as if it might be covered with scales instead of feathers. 

 Really, the resemblance that a creeper bears to a lizard as it sidles up a branch, 

 is at times remarkable. 



The creeper's method of concealment is as effective as it is unique. On one 

 occasion I was watching one of these little birds in a small willow tree, when a 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk flew over with a Mockingbird in its talons. As the report 

 of the shotgun died away I was sure that the creeper had not flown; but after 

 picking up the hawk I could not again discover my little friend, so began a care- 

 ful scrutiny of every branch. After completely encircling the tree, I finally de- 

 tected the creeper flattened against the trunk not ten feet from the ground. Al- 

 though I could probably have dislodged him with the gun barrel, he had not 

 moved in several minutes, and so perfectly did his plumage blend with the colors 

 of the rough bark that the bird would certainly have been passed unnoticed had 

 I not been aware of almost his exact location. 



Slender-billed Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis aculeata Cassin. 



This is another bird that is given a place on the present list as a result of 

 the observations of Miss Winifred Wear, who has informed me that the species 

 was found in the oaks near Laton, February 17, 1909. The Slender-billed Nut- 

 hatch should be confidently looked for in winter throughout the oak covered re- 

 gion south of Fresno, and possibly along the San Joaquin River below Friant : 

 but over most of the valley the conditions are hardly suitable for a bird that is 

 so closely associated with oak timber. 



Red-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta canadensis Linnaeus. 



I have been unable to find more than one record of the occurrence of this 

 nuthatch anywhere in this part of the valley. Miss Winifred Wear was given a 

 single bird by one of the children in her school, late in the winter of 1911. The 

 writer examined this specimen but did not at the time note the date of capture, or 

 sex, and it seems to have disappeared from Miss Wear's collection. Unfortu- 

 nately there was no data other than that on the tag which was attached to the 

 skin. 



