Gerthla aiaer Icana fusca. 



Cambridge, Mass. January birds in the Garden, 



1899. The Creepers, ?/itli the timidity characteristic of their 



J anuary . 



kind, never ventured to approach the suet when any. of the 

 other birds were engaged at it. It was amusing to watch one 

 of then slov/ly clinbing the opposite side of the elm pretend- 

 ing to rejgard the barh closely but at every convenient oppor- 

 tunity peeping around the bole to see if the Chickadee or 

 Sparrow had departed, and, if he had not, dropping to the 

 foot of the tree and ascending again, often repeat ixig this 

 many times times in succession. 'I'fiien the coast was finally di? 

 clear the Creeper would alight on the top of the suet and eat 

 greedily for several minutes never peeking at it vigorously 

 as did Ulle. Cxiicliadees and V/oodpeckers but laboriously prying 

 or tearing out shreds or fragments, often of such large siae 

 that he had difficulty in swallowing them. 



Twice during the month I saw a Creeper desceiid to the 

 ground under the elm and ramble over a large area of Dare and 

 frozen turf, moving rather gracef-ully and easily by a succes- 

 sion of elastic Sparrow-1 il;e hops. His head was carried high, 

 his neck, which *vas held at nearly right angles with the body, 

 appeared unusually slender and elongated. Jle frequently 

 stopped to pick up som^ething from the surface of the ground, 

 possibly small particles of suet which had fallen from above. 

 Once the bird was joined by a large flock of English Sparrows 

 whose presence, strange to say, did not appear to disconcert 



