Nksting of Ckrthia familiaris. — Having read with interest 

 Dr. Brewer's article on the Brown Creeper in tlie last number of the 

 Bulletin, I desire to add one more instance in confirmation of his opinion 

 as to the usual situation of its nest. T have in my collection two eggs of 

 this bird, which were obtained July 28, 1875, by a friend of mine who is 

 something of an ornithologist. The nest was situated in the heavy 

 forest, half a mile north of Moose Pine, Hamilton County, N. Y., con- 

 cealed behind a piece of bark which had been partly torn loose from the 

 side of a spruce-tree, about six feet from the ground. The bird was well 

 seen and identified by my friend (who is familiar with the species), but 

 was not shot. In describing the nest to me he used these words : " The 

 nest was made of soft downy materials, including feathers and such soft 

 materials as you will find in a squirrel's nest. The whole bulk was not 

 larger than your fist." It contained three young birds with down only in 

 tufts upon them, and two addled eggs, white, thinly marked with fine 

 reddish spots or dots, and measuring .60x.47 and .59 x .4". — Egbert 

 Bagg, Jk., Utica, N. Y. BbLL N. O.O. 4, July. 1«7B, p. /f'J . 



The Creeper. (Certhia familiaris.) 



YW.MEl.i.s I;L AORN, STONE, STAPPORDOTIBK, EN(^ 



I fiimilii(rix) is common 



\Vo,'|,|, 1 tlHlUffbl, 1l,.Mt 



< nesting.- |,Ml,ii,s would 



As the Croci.er {('erlln 

 to b(.))li tbc Old ami ^ rw 

 some obsci-valioiis npnii il 

 interest your r.-atU.a-s. 



Tlie CR.,.|„.rs aiv si.b-divided into several 

 species, varying i„ coloi-, and the rufous form 

 which is found in Western North American i.s 

 undistinguishabic from the British form of which 

 I write. 



In M ,\ 1 isi K 11 a in. nd md J u cnt to explore 

 a tree in s nid.jn Pi,k v,hicl, his ihf 1of d repu- 



tation of being an " Owl-Tree " ] ■ 

 of which only some ten feet ol truu 

 soon as we arrived at the In-c n 

 claimed " Here's a r'n-cjierV lu si" 

 the loose bark and li-iiid< wo loiind a 

 ing four lovely (■..■.rs s^c-ircely ]i- 



them, when a Ci 

 about a yard alu 

 we found a socc 

 visited the tree a 

 eggs 111 the sofor 

 purpose of exai 

 crevice from wli 

 composed of liii 



CJKl II, 

 ( 111,1 , 



.Id Elm 

 niiMiii As 

 y lri,aKl ev- 

 in,l betweiai 

 IK si ,i,nl iin 



I ^\'e Jound 



II d the bark 

 iM the place 

 5 empty. I 



II ding any 

 1 the pur- 

 nited the 

 I part was 

 :>ss with 



1 wwjk lal,_T, and ii,)t I 

 id n,.sl, pnllcl il „„t 11 

 niination. It exaclly 

 if-li I took it, the 1 lot to 

 e twigs then r,>ots an,l 

 a lining of tine strips ofinside bark, and chips ,„ 

 decayed wood. Lpon pulling it to pieces, 1 was 

 surprised to And in the niiddl,. five Creeper's 

 eggs, apparantly a full clutch^two of them 1 

 broke, and the .icllied state of the contents showed 

 they weie fai fiom tush (\Kkntl3 tlic bud had 

 forsaken them and built upon tlie top of them 

 About ten days afterwards I found yet another 

 Creeper's nest in a ditferent part of the same 

 trunk, close to where the first one -was built, but 

 no further eggs were laid. I watched the 'tree 

 closely on various occasions, and only saw the 

 one pair of birds, these I believe built the four 

 nests. 



The Creeper rears two broods in the year, the 

 first clutch being from six to nine in iiuinber. 

 The eggs differ considerably in the amount and' 

 arrangement of marking, but those of a clutch are 

 much alike. They are pure white in ground 

 colors, beautifully marked with brownish red 

 spots ; these form a zone round the larger end, 

 at other times are more generally distribiited. In 

 length they arc .7 or slightly under, and in 

 breadth .5 inch. q.&O. X. P«b.l885. p. H 9. 



• TheOologist. 1575- ^<^s^o/ae c.e 

 ' f — Mention of various other specie. 



CERTiriA FAMILIARIS AMEEICAKA. 



Brown Creeper. 

 I This quaint little bird was found in the ever 

 greens on the mountains, in preference to other 

 localities, excepting during tlie winter months 

 when ,t may be met with in the valleys Its 

 habits are too well known to further enlarge upon 

 m these columns, with one exception, its nidiflca 

 lion, which has not been often published Onlv 



t ''^^^^ mountains 



On May 15, 1885. I saw one of these birds fiv to 

 he trunk of a spruce, the top of which had been 

 broken off, and the stub having lost its vitality 

 had cast Its bark, which was hanging loosely from 

 n The bird was quickly followed by his mate 

 which was carrying in her bill a few feathers.' 

 Marking the spot where she disappeared behind 

 he rough bark I left her to perforin her labors 

 In ten days I returned, and upon thumping fl,e 

 tree she flew from her nest. Cutting a "stacklle " 

 I mounted the trunk of the stub, until I could 

 reach the rift beliind which the nest was placed 

 The nest was a medley of lichens, um,a, moss' 

 feathers, grass and a few rootlets, in which 

 was placed five eggs, much resembling Chicka 

 dees, being a trifle smaller. Another set of 

 SIX eggs brought me by a lad, were profusely 

 spotted with bright brown spots. This set was 

 according to the statement of the tinder, taken' 

 from a nest placed in a crevice in one of the lo^^s 

 of a fence. = 



minutes both would return and repeat the per- 

 formance. After this I again visited the nest 

 to find in it tliree fresh eggs; these I carefully 

 packed in a small tin box, but in trying to get 

 to a Sparrow Hawk's nest I lost the box The 

 nest was composed of the line inner bark of 

 trees and was very shallow. 



epci: By Wm. L. Kells Th 



