b WINTER BIRDS. 



THE BROWN CREEPER. 



This is a little brown bird about five inches long, with whitish mark- 

 ings on the back, white under parts, slender in form, with a long tail, that 

 is stiffened somewhat as in the woodpeckers and, as in these birds, is 

 pointed at the tips ( See fig. 6 ). The bill of the brown creeper is also 

 slender, long and somewhat curved, in order that it may more readily 

 gather insects, their eggs and larva from the cracks of the bark. 



The brown creepers alight near the base of a tree trunk, and 

 climb up spirally, then after reaching the top, or near it, will fly 

 down to the base, either ofthe same tree or one in the neighborhood, 

 and again ascend in the same manner. The tail is held against the 

 bark, and when the bird stops to gather an insect, it braces itself 

 with this stiffened tail, much as do the woodpeckers, but it never 

 backs down a tree as the woodpeckers do. 



Figure 4, 



Figure 5, 



Bed-bellied Nuthatch. 



Brown Creeper. 



The only sound that the brown creepers utter in winter is a 

 shrill chirp almost like a hiss. In summer they have a low musical 

 song. 



Figure 6. 



Tail Feather of Brown Creeper'. 



Although a few of these birds remain to breed with us here in 

 Massachusetts, the greater number go further north in summer. The 

 nests are more frequently placed behind a loosened strip of bark 

 which is hanging off a dead tree, than in any other place. 



