BROWN CREEPER 



THE BARK BIRD 



{Pig- 59) 



HE Brown Creeper might well be 

 called the Bark Bird. He spends 

 his life on the bark, builds his nest 

 behind a slab of loose bark, and 

 looks himself like a piece of bark. 

 He might be a feathered mouse, so 

 truly does he creep up the tree-trunks, winding his 

 way around, and pausing only long enough to pick 

 out an insect's egg here and there. When he reaches 

 the lower limbs he is apt to drop lightly down to 

 the base of a neighboring tree and the moment his 

 toes grasp the bark he begins his upward journey. 

 What a preoccupied, near-sighted manner he has! 

 How intent he seems upon his search! One never 

 sees him resting. He reminds me of a character 

 in mythology named Sisyphus. This poor man was 

 condemned to push a great stone up a hill; he toiled 

 faithfully, but always, just before he reached the 

 top, the stone slipped from his grasp and rolled 



73 



