Black and White Creeping Warbler 57 
cowbird’s egg, although they may seal up their 
own speckled treasures with it. Suppose the 
wicked cowbird comes back and lays still an- 
other egg in the two-storied nest : what then ? 
The little Spartan yellow bird has been known 
to weave still another layer of covering rather 
than hatch out an unwelcome, greedy inter- 
loper to crowd and starve her own precious 
babies. Two and even three-storied nests are 
to be found by bright-eyed boys and girls. 
BLACK AND WHITE CREEPING 
WARBLER 
You may possibly mistake this little warbler 
for a downy woodpecker when first you see him 
creeping rapidly over the bark of trees, or hang- 
ing from the under side of the branches. But 
when he flits restlessly from twig to twig and 
from tree to tree without taking time to exam- 
ine spots thoroughly ; especially when he calls 
a few thin wiry notes — zee-zee-zee-zee — you may 
know he is no woodpecker, but a warbler. 
Woodpeckers have thick set, high shouldered 
bodies which they flatten against the tree trunks ; 
the males wear red in their caps, and all have 
larger, stouter bills than the warbler’s. Moreover, 
no woodpecker is so small as this streaked and 
speckled little creature who is usually too intent 
