208 Brewster on the American Brown Creeper. 
one of the party, “ began to circle round his head with reproachful 
cries, and continued to keep so close to him that it was impossible 
to shoot one without mutilating it.” This behavior was strikingly 
at variance with that displayed by any of the several pairs whose 
nests I took during the past season. When started off, the females 
usually alighted against the trunk of the nearest tree and in per- 
fect silence, watched me as I detached the nest and packed the 
eggs. Upon my withdrawing a little distance, they ordinarily re- 
turned at once and confidently alighted at the place where the bark- 
scale had formerly rested. After scanning the bare stem for a 
moment they became uneasy, and hurriedly climbed upward for a 
yard or two, then, dropping to the former level, ascended again. At 
length, after repeated search, a few chirps were given, when the 
male appeared, and both birds went over the ground, literally inch 
by inch, closely examining the trunk from its base to the very top. 
On the only occasion when I remained in the vicinity to watch the 
denouement , they desisted from their efforts after about an hour’s 
search, and carelessly strayed off into the forest, the female feeding as 
she went, and the male singing freely as before. Moreover, in the 
case of the nest with young, I purposely placed myself at the foot 
of the tree, and even partially pried off the bark that sheltered the 
nest, without exciting any visible apprehension on the part of the 
parents, who simply watched me in motionless and apparently 
apathetic silence. In view of these facts the conduct of the pair 
observed by Dr. Brewer, may probably be regarded as of individual 
rather than specific significance. 
In regard to the question of Southern distribution, I can offer 
nothing new. I am, however, decidedly of the opinion that the 
Brown Creeper — in the Atlantic States at least — is strictly a bird 
of the Canadian Fauna, and while, with several other companion 
species, it may yet be found breeding at a sufficient elevation on 
mountain ranges far to the southward, the occurrence of nests in 
the lower portions of Massachusetts may probably be considered as 
purely exceptional. Many similar examples might be instanced, as 
the breeding in Connecticut of Dendrceca ccerulescens , and Ereunetes 
pusillus , and the occasional nesting in Massachusetts of Myiodioctes 
canadensis ; but it is needless to multiply quotations, as it is now 
pretty well understood that faunal lines must not be too strictly 
drawn. Broadly speaking, then, the Brown Creeper occurs in the 
three southern New England States only as a winter visitor, — one 
