Brown Creeper. 



It is late in the winter and old Boreas is 

 rattling the bare branches and whirling the 

 snow with unwonted savageness, for ho is vent- 

 ing his spite in advance for the defeat ho is soon 

 to suffer. In yonder moaning bit of pine 1 

 woods has gathered a little company of birds, | 

 widely diverse in their mode of life, but called 

 together by the welcome shelter that the 

 sturdy pines extend to them. Here may be 

 seen the hardy Crossbills and Siskins braving 

 even the howling blast to obtain their favorite 

 pine cones; the noisy Blue Jay for once awed 

 into silence uttering but a deprecatory squeak 

 at your intrusion and skulking a little further 

 into the forest. The staid and sober Nut- 

 hatch can bo seen and heard as ho searCiiei9», 

 for dormant insects, accompanietl by the ubi- 

 quitous Chickadee whose varied and cheerful 

 notes make him doubly interesting. But last 

 and least, in size that is, far up on the trunk of 

 that old tree a timid, little peeping note can 

 be heard, and looking up you behold a little 

 Creeper moving about in an apologetic manner, 

 as if aware that he intrudes on the rather 

 limited larder of the Nuthatches and Chicka- 

 dees. 



But as the days slip by Boreas becomes 

 less and less obtrusive, and on awakening some 

 morning you And that spring has at last veri- 

 fied the prediction of her heralds, the Robins 

 and Bluebirds. The Redpolls and Snow Bunt- 

 ing have followed their vanquished lord to the 

 frozen regions of the north, and the zealous 

 student of nature loaves even the bottomless 

 mud of the country roads in order to greet his 

 feathered friends. After a tour of the fields and 

 byways he finds himself once again among the 

 pines. The Creepers have acquired new con- 

 fidence by increase of numbers, and now take 

 their well-known spiral route about the trees j 

 with a sprightly and joyous air that is in j 

 marked contrast with his conduct of a few 

 weeks before. He has now a song which he 

 I utters while in motion; it begins with a clear 

 I whistle followed after a slight pause by an 

 ascending warble of two notes, the last with a I 

 guttural ending; than follows another whistle 

 like the first, ending with two whistles, the 

 first tlic higher. The whole is uttered very 

 quickly in a jerky manner, the time varying 

 with every note. 



In the first part of April every orchard and 

 ' shade ticc contains its quota of these birds, 

 I and every opportunity is given to the most 

 casual observer for watching their habits. 

 They display great dexterity in keeping out of 

 sight always without appearing to bo at any 

 pains to avoid you. At first ho alights about 

 three feet from the ground on some old apple 

 tree, and ascending in a spiral direction picks 

 off the insects which he meets, jumping 

 1 rapidly backwards down the trunk to research 

 any spot that he has not looked over 

 thoroughly, ever and anon springing into the 

 air to seize a ily. On gaining the top ho fiics 

 hurriedly to the foot of the next. In this man- 

 ner he quickly goes through an orchard doing 

 almost incalculable good in destroying its yet 

 - undeveloped pests. At this time of year in 

 addition to the song described above ho some- 

 times utters another entirely dilt'eront. This 

 begins with three notes of the same pitch, 

 followed by one lower which is in turn followed 

 by one lower still ended by three quick notes 

 starting low and ending at tlie pitch of the 

 first. For about two weeks they arc very 

 abundant, but at the end of that period they 

 disappear from tlie haunts of man and must 

 again be sought in the pinery. Here a few 

 pairs carry on their love making, chasing and 

 flying around a tree, hopping backwards and 

 forwards, the male stopping every once in a 

 while to utter his love song. This begins with 

 throe notes followed by two lower; it ends 

 with a rising scries of three notes, beginning 

 low. Thus it resembles the song, or a song 

 rather, of the Black-throated Green Warbler, 

 except that the three last notes instead of be- 

 ing distinct are elided, while.a slight difference 

 can readily bo distinguished in the first part of 

 the song. I have never succeeded in finding 

 the nest so I can give no description of the 

 eggs. Stewart E. White. 



Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Mich. 



