ORNITHOLOGIST 
AND 
()()L()GI8T. 
$1.00 ijor 
Ainiuiii. 
Estiiblisheil March 187.'), 
.JOcScph M. Waile, editor and |jul)li.sher. 
10 cents 
single copy. 
VOL. VI. 
ROCKVILLE, CONN., JUNE, i88i. 
NO. 4 
Black and White Creeper. 
ITS NEST AND EGGS. 
Having rambled some distance and not 
having made any stimulating find, and the 
weather being warm, it being the 20th of 
June, it was exceedingly easy and desira¬ 
ble to get down full length on the green 
turf near to an old stump, on which had 
formerly grown a solitary chestnut tree. 
AVe had no sooner got fairly down, with 
our face a few feet from the stump, when 
a Black and AVhite Creeper came out from 
a crevice between two roots, and ran up 
the stump and across the field with a zig¬ 
zag movement over the ground in an ap¬ 
parently wounded condition, first dropping 
one wing, then the other, until it had got 
to a safe distance when we lost sight of it, 
and returned to the stump, and while ex¬ 
amining the crevice between the two roots 
a little under the stump and not easily seen 
was a nest, composed in part of leaves and 
inner bark of chestnut and well lined with 
hair, being one and one half inches deep, and 
the same in diameter, being of the size and 
having the appearance of a well built Chip¬ 
ping Sparrow’s nest, in which were four 
eggs slightly incubated. The nest was 
built so near the stump that there was lit¬ 
tle more than the lining on the side, but 
on the front the nest was thicker and of 
coarser materials, as above described, being 
built so as fill the cavity even. To make 
doubly sure of the bird’s identity we set 
some limed twigs on each side of the nest 
and waited jiatiently at a proper distance 
for the bird’s return, which was in about fif¬ 
teen minutes. It first ajipeared on the 
dead limb of a tree near by, running uj), 
then down in a manner iieculiar to this 
creeper and as if in search of insects. It 
was never still or perching, but was con¬ 
tinually moving, flying down to the stumjis 
and creeping over them, then returning 
to the tree. It finally flew to the stump 
under which was its nest, creeping down 
it, across and over it in different directions, 
then flying away to return again, repeating 
this interesting performance several times, 
until at last it alighted on the stump, 
creeping downwards to the nest, on reach¬ 
ing which it appeared to discover its disor" 
dered condition, and started to fly away 
once more, but too late, the limed twigs 
caught its wings placing it at our mercy. 
When we picked it up, examined it care 
fully, fully establishing its identity, we 
cleaned off’ the bird-limed twigs, and our 
curiosity being fully satisfied we gave the 
bird its freedom and removed the nest 
and eggs all of which are now in our cab¬ 
inet. 
Yellow-bellied 'Woodpecker. 
(Sphyrapicus varius.) 
This handsomely marked bird of the 
Woodpecker family is a common migratory 
species in our vicinity. It arrives from 
the South about the 10th to 15th of April, 
and soon becomes quite abundant in the 
woods, where its loud rap 2 )ing on dead or 
decayed stubs announces its presence. By 
the first or second week in May, all but a 
few of the birds have passed farther on to 
the North where they breed. I have long 
suspected that a few pairs might remain 
with us and nest, and two seasons ago was 
fortunate enough to verify my suspicions. 
Previous to this, I had heard of, and seen 
stray individuals during June and July, 
