452 
NUTHATCHES AND TITS 
In the stillness of the high mountain forests your ear sometimes 
catches the thin, finely drawn pipe of the brown creeper, and if you 
watch patiently on the dark-shaded boles of the lofty trees you 
may* discover the little dark-colored creature — seeming small and 
weak in the great solemn fir forest — creeping up the trunks, exam¬ 
ining the cracks with microscopic care as he goes. If he feels that 
his work has not been done thoroughly enough, he drops back and 
does it over again; and when one tree has been gone over to his 
satisfaction, he often flies obliquely down to the bottom of another 
trunk and creeps patiently up that. On Mount Shasta, where the 
firs are decorated with yellow moss, the Sierra creeper goes around 
its pads when he comes to them, but works carefully over the 
dark lichen-covered branches. Sometimes he lights upside down 
on the under side of a branch, and clings like a fly, but with the 
aid of his pointed tail well pressed against the bark. In New Mex¬ 
ico, Mr. Batchelder has found the creepers eating more seeds than 
insects. 
726c. C. f. OCCidentalis Ridgw. California Creeper. 
Upper parts rusty brown , brightest on rump; superciliary and streaks 
on head and back often tawny. Wing : 2.47. tail 
2.45, bill .72. 
Distribution. — Pacific coast from Sitka to 
Fig. 577. Marin County, California. 
Nest. — Behind bark of redwood or cedar, 3 to 
5 feet from the ground, made of soft shredded bark, lined with feathers, 
cocoons, and silk. 
726d. C. f. zelotes Osgood. Sierra Creeper. 
Upper parts dusky anteriorly, becoming bright rusty on rump ; super¬ 
ciliary, streaks on scapulars, and spots on primaries white; throat and 
breast pure white, sides and flanks tinged with brownish. 
Remarks. — The Sierra creeper is intermediate between the California 
and Rocky Mountain creepers. 
Distribution. — Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Sierra Nevada. 
Nest. —As described by Barlow, under the bark of a dead pine, about 
20 feet from the ground, made of cedar bark, mixed with a few feathers. 
Eggs: 5, white, spotted with flakes and confluent blotches of reddish 
brown, with shell markings of lavender. 
FAMILY PARIDiE: NUTHATCHES AND TITS. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Tail much shorter than wing. Sitta, p. 453. 
1'. Tail equal to or longer than wing. 
2. Tail graduated for about half its length . . . Chamaea, p. 459. 
2'. Tail graduated for much less than half its length. 
3. Plumage compact. Auriparus, p. 462. 
3'. Plumage loose. 
4. Length 4.00-4.50 . Psaltriparus, p. 460. 
4'. Length 4.50-6.00 .Parus, p. 455. 
