tinge. A white streak over the eye; the ear-coverts streaked with whitish. Tail-feathers brown centrally, the edges paler yellowish-brown. Wings with a transverse bar of pale reddish-white across both webs. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.90. (No. 827.)
Young. (5945, Steilacoom, W. T.; Dr. J. S. Cooper.) Resembling the adult, but streaks above indistinct, and the feathers there tipped indistinctly with blackish; the rufous restricted to the upper tail-coverts. Breast and jugulum with very minute blackish wavings or indistinct bars.
Hab. Whole of United States, to Red River Settlement.
Specimens from the far west are purer white beneath, much as in costæ, but those from the northwest coast have the white tinged with light rusty. Though purer white below, these specimens are much browner above than Eastern ones,—sometimes more so than in familiaris, but then there is the yellowish crissum never seen in this “species,” and the proportions are quite different. Thus it will be seen the C. americana may always be distinguished from the other forms; when most resembling costæ in the grayish tints of the upper plumage (as in Eastern examples), the lower parts are less purely white, and the bill and claws smaller; when like it in the proportions and pure white of the lower parts (as in Western specimens), the colors above are altogether more brown. The yellowish crissum of americanus will also distinguish them. Though often resembling familiaris in the colors of the upper parts, the latter may always be distinguished by its ashy lower parts without yellowish crissum, the shorter tail, with its less acute feathers, and stouter bill.
C. mexicanus is still more different in colors, for which see that variety.
Habits. Our common Creeper, so closely resembling the Creeper of Europe as by many to be supposed identical with it, is distributed over the whole of North America, from the Gulf of Mexico to high northern latitudes. At different seasons it may be found in every one of the several States and Territories, yet it is never very abundant. The Smithsonian possesses specimens from various parts of the country, from Georgia to Fort Steilacoom on the Pacific, but of these none appear to have been secured during the period of reproduction. Dr. Heermann found them very common in the more mountainous districts of California. Dr. Cooper found these birds abundant in the forests of Washington Territory, but difficult to detect from the similarity of their color to that of the bark over which they crept. They were apparently constant residents in that Territory. Dr. Suckley, who obtained several specimens of this species in the oak groves in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, states that in their habits the Western birds resemble those of the Atlantic States.
Mr. Ridgway found this Creeper inhabiting both the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada, where it was the more common, and also, in winter, among the willows of the river valleys. He did not meet with it east of the Truckee River, nor until he had reached the Wahsatch Mountains.
Dr. Woodhouse found the Brown Creeper generally distributed throughout the Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, and California, and adds that it was especially abundant in the San Francisco Mountains of New Mexico.
Dr. Cooper states that he has met with this form in the winter throughout the higher mountains and among the Coast Range as far south as Santa Cruz. He found them chiefly frequenting the coniferous trees, creeping up and down their trunks and branches, searching for insects in their crevices, and so nearly resembling the bark in their general color, that they can be detected only with great difficulty, except when in motion.
He adds that their notes are shrill and wiry, and are often heard when the bird is scarcely visible, without a careful search, their cry appearing to be from a greater distance than the real performer. In March, Dr. Cooper heard them giving out a faint but sharp-toned song, resembling that of a Wren. If Dr. Cooper is correct in his account of the notes, they do not correspond with those of our Eastern bird.
Dr. Kennerly, in his Report on the birds observed by him near the 35th parallel, states that he found our common Creeper very abundant among the rough-barked cedars in the Aztec Mountains. It usually attracted notice, and its place of retreat was discovered, by his hearing its quick and sharp notes. A close and careful search generally enabled him to perceive it proceeding leisurely upward and downward, in straight or spiral lines, toward the top of the tree, dodging dexterously to the opposite side from the observer, and only resuming its occupation when assured of solitude and safety.
The observations of Dr. Kennerly, if they are to be received as characteristic of the Western Creepers, do not correspond with those of our Eastern birds, as far as we have observed them. None of our birds are more easily approached, and when they are pursuing their search for food, none are more regardless of observation. The statement that our Creeper, when watched, moves to the opposite side of the tree from the looker-on, has found a certain currency in our books. We are, however, of the opinion that this is owing to its restless activity, prompting it to constant changes of place and position, and not to its timidity or caution. We have uniformly found them either unconscious or regardless of our near presence.
They are solitary in their habits, and frequent, especially in the summer, deep woods, searching for their favorite food in high places where it is difficult to reach them, but this is no necessary evidence of their shyness. They often hunt for their food in very exposed places, with equal courage and recklessness. It is an active, restless bird, associating with Titmice and the smaller Woodpeckers, moving with great rapidity from side to side and from place to place. They breed in hollow trees, in the deserted holes of the Woodpeckers, and in the decayed stumps and branches of trees. Their nest is a loose aggregation of soft, warm materials, not interwoven, but simply collected with regard to no other requisite than warmth.
In the summer of 1851 our party, in their visit to one of the smaller Grand Menan Islands, was so fortunate as to meet with the nest of this bird. It was built in a decayed birch-tree, only a few feet from the ground, and contained five eggs nearly ready to hatch. This was on the 20th of June. The nest was an intermingling of decayed wood, the fur of small quadrupeds, and feathers, but with so little adherence or consistency of form that it was impossible to retain the materials in position after removal.
So far from evincing any timidity, the birds refused to leave their nest, and could hardly be prevented from following it when removed from the woods to a house on the island. One of our companions, returning to the woods in order to secure the birds for the sake of identification, found the pair still lingering round the place of their rifled nest. Upon his approach they 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. At length one of the birds alighted on a small branch held over his head by a lad who accompanied him, and in this position was secured by shooting it with a pistol loaded with the finest shot. Its mate could have been secured, as she persisted in pursuing them, but she was not molested. Throughout there was not a trace of timidity on the part of either bird, but the most reckless and daring devotion.
Besides the single call-note or the sharp outcry with which the Creepers signalize their movements, and which they utter from time to time as they rapidly and busily move up and down the trunks and limbs, or flit from tree to tree, they have been generally regarded as having no song. But this is not the fact. The careful observations of Mr. William Brewster of Cambridge have satisfied him that these birds have a very distinct and varied song. During the winter these birds are not uncommon in the vicinity of Boston, coming about the houses with all the tameness and confidence of the Parus atricapillus, and permit a very near approach. They are very easily attracted by suspending from a piazza a piece of fat meat. Mr. Brewster has observed them commence singing as early as the 14th of March. Their notes are varied and warbling and somewhat confused; some of them are loud, powerful, and surpassingly sweet, others are more feeble and plaintive; their song usually ends with their accustomed cry, which may be represented by crēē-crēē-crē-ēp. Mr. Brewster, besides repeatedly hearing them sing in Massachusetts in the early spring, has also listened to their song in Maine in the month of June.
Their
