THE COMMON TREE-CREEPER. 
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grass-stems, working them well together, and then flying for a fresh load as soon as its mate 
has arrived. It feeds principally on insects, having a special liking for those of the beetle kind. 
There is an allied genus of Oven-birds, termed Cinclodes, the members of which are 
found upon the western coasts of South America, and generally frequent the sea-shore, where 
they feed upon the smaller crustaceans and mollusks. They are rather daring little birds, and 
will seek their prey at some distance from the shore, perching upon the fronds of floating sea- 
weed, and pecking out the various marine creatures that are always to be found in such local- 
ities. Like the true Oven-birds, they are careless of the presence of man, and are so fearless 
that they can almost be taken by hand. Indeed, one voyager relates that he killed ten of 
these little birds with a stick without any difficulty, and hardly having to change his position. 
Another small group of the Certhidse is known to zoologists by the title of Synallaxine 
Birds, and distinguished by the greater length of the outer toe, and its juncture to the middle 
toe nearly as far as the first joint. The hinder toe is long and rather powerful, and all the 
claws are sharply curved, pointed, and strong. The tail is rather long, and is almost always - 
pointed, like that of the common creeper. 
The Synallaxine birds are inhabitants of tropical America, and, like the oven-birds, are 
notable for the very curious nests which they construct. Although these birds are of small 
dimensions, they all build nests which might easily be attributed to the labors of some hawk 
or crow. The nest of one species is often from three to four feet in length, and is placed very 
openly in some low bush, where it escapes notice on account of its resemblance to a bunch of 
loose sticks thrown carelessly together by the wind. In its interior, however, the edifice is 
very carefully made, and, like the nest of the oven-birds, is divided into two recesses, the eggs 
being laid in the inner apartment, upon a bed of soft feathers. 
The Synallaxine birds are generally found upon the trees, which they traverse with great 
rapidity in search of the various insects on which they feed, and may often be seen running 
about upon the ground, peering anxiously into every little hole and cranny, and dragging- 
slugs, snails, worms, end beetles from the recesses in which they are accustomed to conceal 
themselves during the hours of daylight. 
Another very small group of the Creepers is represented by the Curved-billed Creeper, 
a bird about the size of a blackbird, which is found in the forests of Brazil. 
It is chiefly remarkable from the curiously- formed bill, which is very long in proportion 
to the size of the bird, and is curved in a manner that can best be represented by the form 
of a sickle. The bill, although so much elongated, is possessed of considerable strength, 
and is evidently employed for the purpose of drawing the insects on which the creature feeds 
from the crevices of the bark in which they dwell. As is indicated by the stiff and sharply- 
pointed feathers of the tail, the Curved-billed Creeper is in the habit of traversing the trunks 
of trees, and is able to support itself in a perpendicular position by hooking its long curved 
claws into the inequalities of the bark, and resting the weight of its body upon the stiff tail- 
feathers. The general color of this bird is brown, with a wash of cinnamon upon the greater 
part of the surface. The head and neck are of a grayer brown, and spotted with white. 
We now arrive at the true Creepers, of which birds the Common Tree-Creeper is an 
excellent example. 
This little bird is one of the prettiest and most interesting of the feathered tribes that are 
found in Europe. It is a very small bird, hardly so large as a sparrow, and beautifully slender 
in shape. The bill is rather long, pointed, and curved, and the tail-feathers are stiff and 
pointed at their extremities. The food of the Creeper consists chiefly of insects, although the 
bird will sometimes vary its diet by seeds and other vegetable substances. The insects on 
which it feeds live principally under the bark of various rough-skinned trees, and when it is 
engaged in running after its food, it runs spirally up the trunk with wonderful ease and 
celerity, probing every crevice with ready adroitness, its whole frame instinct with' sparkling 
