BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER. 



black and white creeper. 



Mniotilta varla.. 



Char. Above, black striped with white, head, wings, and tail mostly 

 black; beneath, white, more or less striped' with black. Female and 

 young without stripes on the throat. Length 4>^ to 5% inches. 



Nest. In open woodland or pasture ; placed at the foot of a tree or 

 stump, or at the base of a moss-covered rock, sometimes in a hole; made 

 of grass, moss, and shreds of bark, and lined with grass, hair, roots, and 

 vegetable down. 



Eggs. 4-5; creamy white, thickly spotted with pale reddish brown; 

 0.65 X 0.50. 



This remarkable bird, allied to the Creepers, is another 

 rather common summer resident in most parts of the United 

 States, and probably migrates pretty far to the north. It 

 arrives in Louisiana by the middle of February, visits Pennsyl- 

 vania about the second vv^eek in April, and a week later appears 

 in the woods of New England, protracting its stay in those 

 countries till the beginning of October, and lingering on the 

 southern limits of the Union a month later, so that it does not 

 appear to be much affected by the commencement of frost, 

 and probably at this season occasionally feeds on berries. 

 As numbers are observed round Vera Cruz toward the com- 

 mencement of winter, and are described as inhabiting the 

 West India islands, it is probable they pass the extremity of 

 the winter beyond the southern boundary of the Union. 



