398 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



The mode of migration of these birds is a mystery. We are 

 accustomed to say that they retire to the south early in September, 

 but how do they travel 1 Do they rise in flocks like Swallows and go 

 off during the night, or do they make the long joumiey from the 

 Saskatchewan, where they were seen by Richardson, south to Guate- 

 mala, flitting singly, or in pairs, from bush to bush 1 In either case 

 it is strange that they are seldom, if ever, seen except in the marshy 

 tracts where they spend the summer. 



Mr. White has found this species breeding near Ottawa, and it is 

 said to be common at many points in Manitoba, which seems to be 

 its northern limit. 



Family CERTHIID^. Creepers. 



Genus CERTHIA Linn^us. 



CERTHIA FAMILIARIS AMERICANA (Bonap.). 



302. Brown Creeper. (726) 



Plumage above, singularly barred with dusky, whitish, tawny or fulvous- 

 brown and bright brown, latter chiefly on the rump ; below, white, either pure 

 or soiled, and generally brownish washed behind; wings, dusky, oddly varied 

 with tawny or whitish bars and spots ; tail, plain, about 5A ; wing and tail, 

 about 2J. 



Hae. — North America in general, breeding from the northern and more 

 elevated parts of the United States north as far as Red River settlement, 

 migrating south in winter. 



Nest, nearly always in a crevice where the bark is partially separated from 

 the trunk of a tree. In the crevice is placed a basis of twigs, on which the nest 

 is built, of strips of bark and moss, lined with spiders' cocoons and down. 



Eggs, five to eight, dull white, spotted with reddish-brown or hazel. 



This singular little bird is seen in Southern Ontario at nearly all 

 seasons, but it is most abundant during the period of migration. 

 About the end of April and beginning of May, it becomes quite 

 common in the woods, and is seen flitting like a great moth from tree 

 to tree, or winding its spiral way upward on a trunk, uttering its 

 simple note so descriptive of the motion, creep, creep, creep. In 

 summer a pair may be ^ seen, occasionally, in more favored spots, 

 evidently nesting, but at that season they are quite rare. Early in 

 September they again become numerous, in company with other 

 migrants who are travelling southward, and in the depth of winter I 



