BROWN CREEPER. 
585 
basal, naked, pierced in grooves, and half closed by a small .mem- 
brane. Tongue acute. Feet slender, inner toe free, and somewhat 
shorter than the outer ; hind toe longer and more robust ; the nails 
much curved, that of the hind toe largest. Wings rather short; 
spurious feather small ; 3d and 4th primaries longest. Tail of 12 
feathers, elastic, rigid, and acuminate. 
The sexes and young nearly alike ; with the moult annual. They 
live in pairs, or move in small families, and chiefly frequent woods, 
particularly those of pine, climbing both upwards and downwards on 
the trunks of trees, in performing which, like Woodpeckers, they 
are aided by the support of the rigid tail. They feed on insects only ; 
and nest in hollow trees, laying from 3 to 9 eggs. The species are 
few, but widely spread. 
BROWN CREEPER. 
( Ccrthia familiar is, L. Wirson, i. p. 122. pi. 8. fig. 1. Phil. Muse- 
um, No. .) 
Sp. Charact. — Dark grey, varied with white, brown, and dusky ; 
beneath white ; rump and tail rusty-brown. 
This industrious forager for insects, chiefly dwelling 
in the seclusion of the forest, is but seldom seen in the 
summer ; but on the approach of winter, with other hun- 
gry wanderers of similar habits, such as the small Wood- 
peckers and Nuthatches, he makes his appearance on the 
wooded skirts of the village, particularly among the pine 
trees, and occasionally becomes familiar enough to pay 
a passing visit to the orchard. In this country, however, 
the species is neither common nor familiar, nor are they 
more abundant in the Northern than the Middle States. 
If this be, indeed, the same as the common European 
species, its habits are considerably different, nor is it 
quoted as common to America by the celebrated Tem- 
minck in his Manual of European Ornithology. 
The bill of the Creeper not being of sufficient strength 
to probe the wood, it rests contented, with examining the 
crevices of the bark for insects and their eggs, proceeding 
