( 471 ) 



BLACK-AND-WHITE CREEPER. 



Certhia varu, Wils. 



PLATE XC. Vol. I. p. 452. 



I FOUND this species in the Texas, breeding near Buffalo Bayou, 

 where I saw a young one that had fallen out of the nest, which was in 

 the prong of a broken limb not more than ten feet from the ground. 

 It breeds in localities greatly distant from each other, and, like many 

 other birds, on this account, places its nest in different situations, and 

 varies the materials of which it is composed. Mr Nuttall saw a nest 

 in the vicinity of Boston, which was " niched in the shelving of a rock, 

 on the surface of the ground, and was externally composed of coarse 

 stripes of the inner bark of the hemlock-tree {Abies canadensis) which 

 overshadowed the situation. With these were mixed soft dissected 

 old leaves, and a few stalks of dead grass ; the lining was made of a thin 

 layer of black hair." 



The eggs of this bird measiu-e four and a foiu'th eighths in length, 

 and half an inch in breadth. Some of them are much more spotted 

 with light reddish-brown and purplish dots than others. Of this latter 

 kind I have a beautiful specimen presented by my friend Dr T. M. 

 Brewer of Boston, 



As some persons might suppose from my account of its habits, that 

 it uses its tail to aid it in climbing, like the Brown Creeper, I must 

 here state that it never does so, but hops in the manner of the Nut- 

 hatches. My friend Dr Bachman has observed it in spring perched on 

 small twigs and uttering its song composed of half a dozen notes, which 

 are heard at a considerable distance. It arrives in South Carolina 

 early in April, remains until about the 10th of May, and has been seen 

 on its return as early as the 1st of September. 



Dr T. M. Brewer sends me the following notice: — " This bird, 

 which you speak of as breeding in the hollows of trees, with us always 

 builds its nest on the ground. I say always, because I never knew it 

 to lay anywhere else. I have by me a nest brought to me by Mr Ap- 

 PLETON from Batternits, New York, which was found in the drain of 

 the house in which he resided. It is neat and compact, measures 3^ 



