THE BLACK AND WHITE CREEPER WARBLER. 



{Mniotilta varia.) 



After the spring migration is well 

 under way and the few warblers that 

 have appeared in the parks are tantaliz- 

 ing, elusive bits of color flitting from 

 place to place that one has to follow and 

 piece together as best he may sometimes, 

 a new Warbler 'arrives and advertises 

 his presence in plain black and white so 

 distinctly that one can read it without 

 running very hard or far. Moreover he 

 does not flit restlessly from place to place, 

 nor dart continually from his perch to 

 capture his prey, as do most of the 

 warblers, but creeps along the tree 

 trunks, searching for insects in the bark, 

 much after the fashion of a nuthatch. He 

 can therefore be studied at leisure. Some 

 time after he has appeared, the female 

 arrives. She can be distinguished by her 

 duller color, the dark parts of her dress 

 being rather brownish than black. 

 Although a rather small bird, four and 

 one-half to five and one-half inches long, 

 the contrasting black and white streaks 

 make this bird a rather conspicuous 

 object among the early open copses of 

 the parks, before the leaves are out, and 

 when these Creepers are abundant they 

 give a distinct flavor to the two or three 

 weeks they spend with us. 



In the deeper forests these birds are 



resident during the whole summer, and 

 are the earliest of the warblers to arrive. 

 While in the parks they are seen rather 

 than heard, the reverse is true in the 

 deeper and more remote woodlands, for 

 here the bird uses his voice more, his 

 song being a rapid succession of clear, 

 two-syllable notes. He is here difficult 

 to see, however, as the lights and shad- 

 ows of corrugated bark harmonize well 

 with his markings. No one knowing him 

 only in the open parks would think of his 

 colors as protective; no one acquainted 

 with him in the deep forests would think 

 of them for a moment as likely to attract 

 attention; perhaps by doing his courting 

 early, before the forests have gloomed 

 their light with shadows, and going to 

 housekeeping later, he works his color 

 scheme both ways. 



The nest, like those of many other of 

 the wood warblers, is built on the ground, 

 and is usually built in some place where 

 it is likely to escape observation, as near 

 the foot of a tree or bush, or under a 

 stone or chunk. In this are laid, during 

 May or June, five, or sometimes four, 

 small, cream-colored, speckled eggs. 



The birds return southward in August 

 and September, but are then not so con- 

 spicuous, on account of the foliage. 



H. Walton Clark. 



167 



