Feb. 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



23 



48 WtirhVmg Yireo, (Vii'eosyUia gilva,) transient 



visitant ; common. May 2. 



49 Yellow-throated Vireo, {Lanmreoflnrifmns,) 



Summer resident; tolerably common. 

 Breeds. May 14. 



."lO Bine-headed Vii'eo, (Laninvco mUtin-iiix) tran- 

 sient visitant ; rare. 



.")1 Wliite-eyed Vireo, (Vireo tiovebomceiisis,) 

 Summer resident; tolerably common. 

 Breeds in thickets. May 8— Sept. 14. 



.53 Great Northern Shrike, (Laidtis horenlk,) 

 Winter visitant ; rare ; first seen Oct. 18. 



.5.3 Cedar Wax-wing, (Ampelis cedrorum,) perma- 

 nent resident ; common. Breeds. 



54 Cliff Swa.\\ow,(Petrochelulunlunifrons,)San\- 



mer resident ; tolerably common some sea- 

 sons. Breeds. 



55 Barn Swallow, {Rirundo erytJirogastnt,) Sum- 



mer resident; abundant. Breeds. April 

 20— Aug. 10. 

 .50 AVhite-Bellied Sw.allow, (Tuc/iycinetu hkolnr,) 

 Summer resident; common. May 11 — 

 Oct. 12. 



57 Rough-winged Swallow, {Stdykloptcvyx scr- 



ripennin,) Summer resident; rare. Breeds. 



58 Scarlet Tanager, (Pymiiga ntbra,) Summer 



resident ; tolerably common. Breeds. May 

 13— Sept. 14. 



59 Pine GrOsbeak, (Ptnimln enuckn(nr,) AVintei 



visitant; rare. 

 00 Purple Finch, {Curpodacuspurpmruit,) Winter 



visitant ; common. 

 Gl Common Redpoll, {JEgwtliui liiian(i,)'Wm\cr 



visitant ; rare. 



02 American Goldfinch, (AstmgnUtiun trixtU,) 



permanent resident ; abundant. 



03 Pine Goldfinch, [C'hrysomitris peiiKS,) Winter 



visitant; rare. 



04 Snow Bunting, (Pkdrophancs nimlii,) acci- 



dental visitant ; very rare. 



05 Savannah Sparrow, [Passercultis sandwkheii- 



sii sncaiina,) Summer resident; common. 

 Breeds. April 20— Oct. 24. 

 00 Grass Finch, (Pocecetes gramineus,) Summer 

 resident; common. Breeds. April 12 — 

 Nov. 1. 



07 Yellow-winged Sparrow, (Cotiii iikidiis jnm- 



.wriimn,) Summer resident ; common. 

 Breeds. May 16. 



08 English Sparrow, (Passer domestkiis,) jierma- 



nent resident ; abundant. Breeds. A per- 

 fect curse to the country. 



09 White-throated Sparrow, (Zonotrkhki albi- 



ciillis,) transient visitant ; common. Nov. G. 

 70 Tree Sparrow, (SpizeUa rnoiikiitK,) Winter 

 visitant; abundant. Oct. 18. 



71 Chipping Sparrow, (SpizeUa domestical Sum- 

 mer resident ; abundant. Breeds. April 



14— Oct. 37. 



(To be Continued.) 



The Creeper. {Certhia fandliaris.) 



BY W. WELLS BL.\DEN, STONE, ST.Ui-KOKDSIIIRE,ENfi. 



As the Creeper (Certhia f(imiUiiris)\?, common 

 to both the Old and New World, I thought that 

 some observations upon its nesting lialiits w(ndd 

 interest your readers. 



The Creepers are sub-divided into several 

 species, varying in color, and the rufous form 

 which is found in Western North American, is 

 undistinguishable from the British form of which 

 I write. 



In May last year a friend and I went to explore 

 a tree in Sandon Park which has the local repu- 

 tation of being an " Owl-Tree." It is an old Elm 

 of which only some ten feet of trunk remain. As 

 soon as we arrived at the tree, my friend ex- 

 claimed " Here's a Creeper's nest" and between 

 the loose bark and trunk we found a nest contain- 

 ing four lovely eggs. Scarcely had we found 

 them, when a Creeper flew from behind the bark 

 about a yard above, and on examining the place 

 we found a second nest, which was empty. I 

 visited the tree a week later, and not finding any 

 eggs in the second nest, pulled it out for the pur- 

 purpose of examination. It exactly fitted the 

 crevice from which I took it, the bottom part was 

 composed of fine twigs then roots and moss with 

 a lining of fine strips of mside bark, and chips of 

 decayed wood. Upon pulling it to pieces, I was 

 surprised to find in the middle five Creeper's 

 eggs, apparantly a full clutch— two of them I 

 broke, and the jellied state of the contents showed 

 they were far from fresh ; evidently the bird had 

 forsaken tliem and built upon the top of them. 

 About ten days afterwards I found yet another 

 Creeper's nest in a different part of the same 

 trunk, close to where the first one was built, but 

 no further eggs were laid. I watched the tree 

 closely on various occasions, and only saw the 

 one pair of birds, these I believe built the four 

 nests. 



The Creeper rears two broods in the year, the 

 first clutch being from six to nine in number. 

 The eggs differ considerably in the amount and 

 arrangement of marking, but those of a clutch are 

 much alike. They are pure white in ground 

 colors, beautifully marked with brownish red 

 spots ; these form a zone round the larger end, 

 at other times are more generally distributed. In 

 length they are .7 or slightly under, and in 

 breadth .5 inch. 



