Birds. 9111 
wing in a trap baited with a piece of a rabbit: no doubt in attempting to escape from 
the falling “flag” it had stretched out its wing, and thus been made prisoner.—John 
A, Harvie Brown ; Dunipace, May 6, 1864. 
Habits of the Creeper.— Having been informed that a pair of creepers (Certhia fa- 
miliaris) had built a nest behind the matting that lines the inside of my boat-house, I 
repaired thither on Tuesday, May 10th, for the joint purpose of fishing and embracing 
an opportunity of watching the nesting habits of this most interesting little bird. My 
sister-in-law, who had been sitting there sketching on a previous day, had remarked 
the fearless confidence it displayed, being apparently completely unembarrassed by 
her presence, and as it continued to visit and revisit the nest, running in all directions 
over the matting, she proceeded leisurely to transmit to paper a characteristic por- 
traiture of both bird and nest. I suspect that there may have originally existed a 
small perforation in the texture of the outstretched matting which induced the bird to 
make selection of this spot, and which she had personally enlarged to suit her purpose ; 
at all events there was the hole, the edges of which were neatly chipped so as to form a 
perfect oval, and just large enough to admit with ease the entrance and exit of the 
bird. From three to four inches below the entrance, between the matting and the 
outer wooden wall, the nest containing seven eggs was constructed. Anxious to add 
a couple of eggs to my collection, I had come provided with a piece of wire, with 
which I successfully extracted them, but think it possible that during the process 
I might have cracked a third. Be this as it may, as I lay reclining at length, 
alternately watching the fluctuations of my float and the evolutions of the smoke from 
my pipe, as it curled gracefully upward on the still air of a bright sunlit afternoon, the 
little creature presently appeared slyly coursing over the surface of the rough bark 
around one of the oak-tree posts, which, rising from the deep water, forms one of the 
main supports of the boat-house roof. I was curious to observe whether the little agile 
tenant would become aware that its sanctuary had been invaded, and consequently 
how she would under the circumstances proceed to act. Watching me with furtive 
restlessness as she sped up and down the surface of a rafter, she now took to the 
matting, over which she travelled with the utmost dexterity with a series of short side- 
long jumps (very much as a skater would make a leap, both his feet leaving the ice at 
the same moment), but clinging on at each hop to the perpendicular wall with a 
tenacity that produced an audible crackle of the matting, and with an agility most 
beautiful to witness. Arrived at the entrance she seemed to be at once aware that her 
nest had been tampered with, and accordingly made several circuits of the hole, in 
evident doubt and hesitation, ere she finally disappeared within its dark recess. 
Keeping my eyes fixed upon the spot, great was my surprise at seeing her presently 
emerge with an egg impaled upon her bill. She flew directly towards me, when, 
flurried at discovering my presence, she let the egg drop, and it fell through the open 
floor and smashed upon one of the seats of the boat underneath. It at once occurred 
to me that this must have been the cracked egg, which the little creature had imme- 
diately discovered and with provident sanitary precaution had thus taken instant 
measures to effect its removal. She is now sitting hard upon the remaining four eggs, 
with my best wishes for the welfare of herself and family— Arthur W. Crichton ; 
Purchase, Ditchling, Sussex, May 18, 1864. 
Hoopoe in Suffolk.—A magnificent male specimen of the hoopoe was shot at 
Wortley, Suffolk, on the 20th of April last. Another specimen; also a male, was taken 
at Lowestoft two or three days previous to the above.—7Z. EZ. Gunn; Norwich. 
