THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 45 



Creeper^ Black and White. See Black and White 

 Warbler. 



Creeper, Brown. — Length, five inches; extent, seven 

 inches; bill, two-thirds of an inch; head, brownish black; 

 back, brown with yellow and white streaks; breast, gray- 

 ish white; belly, white; tail, pale grayish brown; upper 

 wing, brownish black, with whitish brown bars; under 

 wing, dusky white and black; legs and feet, a dirty clay 

 color. 



The nest of this bird is located behind the loose bark of 

 a tree and made of twigs, bark and moss very closely re 

 sembling the color of the place it is built on. The eggs 

 are from five to eight in number, three-fifths by one-half 

 inch in size, white, with brown spots; sometimes with a 

 pink tinge. 



It breeds from the northern border of the United States 

 northward and also further south on the higher moun- 

 tains, and in winter is distributed throughout the eastern 

 United States. In New Jersey it is a common winter 

 resident, arriving about the middle of September and re- 

 maining until about the middle of April. 



Although in the north it is said to render exquisite 

 song, in New Jersey it is confined to a few squeaky notes. 

 In fact, the bird does not seem to have time to sing, his 

 whole existence apparently being taken up looking for in- 

 sects and larvae in trees. It ascends the tree, beginning 

 at the very root and encircling it as it goes up; when it 

 reaches the top it drops down to the root of another tree 

 and thus keeps up a continual pilgrimage, ever alert for 

 food. 



€!rosshUl, .Mmerican, or Red CrossbiU. — Length, 

 five and three-quarter inches; extent, nine inches; bill, 

 two-thirds of an inch. This bird is a very irregular vis- 

 itor in New Jersey, occasionally occurring in winter in 

 small flocks, but generally confining itself to mountain- 



