OF VIRGINIA 335 
FAMILY CERTHIIDAZ.—CREEPERS. 
GENUS CERTHIA. 
[726]. Certhia familiaris americana (Bonaparte). 
Brown Creeper. 
Rayes.—Eastern North America. Breeds mainly in 
Canadian and Transition zones from southern Manitoba, 
central Ontario, southern Quebec, and Newfoundland 
south to eastern Nebraska, northern Indiana, northern 
New York, and Massachusetts, and south along the 
Alleghenies to North Carolina, and casually in south- 
eastern Missouri; winters over a large part of its breeding 
range and south to central Texas and northern Florida. 
These little active birds do not winter with us, arriving 
in Tidewater Virginia about April 8th, while in the 
mountains, Professor Smyth reports them as arriving at 
Blacksburg April 10th to May Ist, and migrating south- 
ward the latter part of October. Like the nuthatches, 
they never seem to be still a moment, moving in jerks, 
up, down and around the tree trunks and limbs, first on 
top and then on the under side, peeking into every crack 
and crevice in search of the smaller insects, their eggs 
and larve, of which their food consists mostly, thus mak- 
ing them a very beneficial bird to have in our forests. 
Our pine trees they seem particularly fond of, probably 
on account of the rough and deeply cracked bark, which 
harbors so much more food than other trees. The nest 
is placed in a narrow crevice between the bark and the 
tree trunk, various heights from the ground, and is com- 
posed of fine twigs, strips of bark fiber and sometimes 
moss. Four to six eggs constitute a full set, the eggs being 
white, finely specked with reddish-brown. Size, .60x.50. 
They raise but a single brood each season. Fresh eggs 
May 5th to 10th. 
