THE TREE CREEPER 47 



nimbly round to the morsel, takes his stand on it and hammers 

 away until he has separated a large lump. This he then seizes 

 in his beak and retires to a place of seclusion, leaving the inferior 

 animals to squabble to their hearts' content over the crumbs which 

 he has dislodged, and presently he discomfits them again by a reap- 

 pearance. What his powers as a combatant may be I cannot say ; 

 great, it may be supposed, for no one is inclined to do him battle, and 

 he is not sociably disposed even towards those of his own kind. 



FAMILY CERTHIID^ 



THE TREE CREEPER 

 ci;RTHiA familiAris 



Upper plumage mottled with yellowish brown, dark brown, and white ; a pale- 

 streak over the eyes ; throat and breast buff-white, becoming dusky 

 towards the tail ; wings brown tipped with white and barred with white 

 brown, and dull yellow ; tail-feathers reddish brown, stiff and pointed. 

 Length five inches, breadth seven inches. Eggs white, with small 

 yellowish red spots. 



The Tree Creeper, though a common bird, is less familiarly known 

 than many others of much rarer occurrence, yet, if once observed, 

 can be confounded with no other. In size it ranks with the Tits, 

 WiUow Wren, etc., but is less likely to attract notice than any of 

 these, as it never alights on the ground, nor perches on the small 

 twig of a tree. Its note, too, is weak, simple, and unpretending, 

 amounting to no more than an occasional ' cheep ', which it utters 

 from time to time while hunting for food, and while performing 

 its short flights. Any one, however, who wishes to see the bird, 

 and knows what to search for, can scarcely f aU of success if he looks 

 well about him during a stroll through almost any wood of full- 

 grown trees. Half-way up the trunk of a rugged elm or oak he will 

 observe a small portion of bark, as it were, in motion ; the motion, 

 and not the colour, betrays the presence of a small brown bird, 

 which is working its way by a succession of irregular starts up the 

 trunk. Frequently it stops for a few seconds, and is evidently 

 pecking at some small insect, quite noiselessly however. Its beak 

 is not adapted for hammering ; it confines its attention therefore 

 to such insects as live on the surface of the bark. It utters a low 

 ' cheep ', and proceeds, not in a straight line up the tree, but turning 

 to the right or left according as it descries a probable lurking-place 

 of its prey : presently it disappears on the other side of the trunk, 

 and again comes in view a few feet higher up. Now it reaches a 



