Crepitus

“ A more appropriate name has seldom been given to a bird than that by which the present species is designated. Notwithstanding the approximation of the bill in form to that of the Sylviæ, I am decidedly inclined to place this species among the Creepers or Certhiæ. To convince you of the propriety of such an arrangement, I shall now lay before you an account of its habits.
The Black-and-white Creeper appears in the State of Louisiana as soon as the buds on the trees begin to expand, which happens about the middle of February. ”

“ The creepers run from tree to tree, and writhe over the ground like gray serpents; ratans and climbing palms one hundred feet in length are common, while uncommon ones stretch to five hundred feet. There is one creeper with a blossom like a magnified white violet, and with all a wood-violet’s fragrance; but with only Dutch and botanical names on the labels, one wanders ignorantly and protestingly in this paradise of strange things. The rarer orchids are grown in matted sheds in the shade of tall trees ”

“ The shell is flat and somewhat limpet-like, and across one end, near the apex, is a little shelf which gives it the appearance of a Chinese slipper. They adhere to stones, shells, crabs and any submerged object, and modify the form of their shell to fit the inequalities of their resting place. Thus a Crepidula on a Pecten shell will be ribbed while the same species on a stone will be perfectly smooth. Frequently they may be seen piled one upon another in tiers of six or more. The animal generally feeds on seaweed but has been known to eat other mollusks. ”

“ Now it creeps on the under side of a projecting limb, then again on the top, and although it will explore an entire tree, still it but rarely uses its wings to convey it from one part to another. You will also find that it, like the Woodpecker, endeavors to be on the opposite side to you, and carry on its explorations unseen." Curiosity, however, often seems to get the better of the Creeper, and you will see its light colored breast and sharp little head peep trustfully at you and again vanish from sight. ”

“ The crevice formed by the inclination of the stone to the bottom may be very narrow, and I am not sure but that the Crab likes it all the better, for he is expressly formed for such a dwelling; his body is particularly flat, his legs move in the same plane, and his claws, though large for his size, are remarkably flat also, thinned out, as it were, to an edge; so that the whole animal has somewhat the appearance of having been crushed flat by the pressure of the stone under which he lives. ”

“ But the creepers I have spoken of make the woods still more curious, and unlike anything at home. First, a creeper drops down from a branch 150 feet high, and then another falls close to it, and the wind blows and twists them together; others grow round it till it takes root, and form a lofty pillar which supports the immense mass of twisting and twining stems above. As we rode along, I saw from many a lofty branch the net-like nests of the corn-bird hanging at the end of long creepers. Those mischievous rascals, the monkeys, are fond of eggs, and will take great pains to get them ”

“ One is apt to think of the Creeper as a silent and very busy bird, who never finds leisure to rest and preen his feathers, or to relieve his mind with song. When he does sing he takes us a little aback. One spring morning, as I was strolling in the Broad Walk, a Creeper flew past me and fixed himself on the thick branch of an elm—not on a trunk, as usual—and uttered a loud and vigorous song, something after the manner of the Wren’s. ”

“ The green horns, six of 'em, growing out of her face in the middle where the nose should have been. The shifting outlines that looked now like a tree stump and now like an octopus. The pulsing heart of scarlet fire in the belly. The dusky-pink tentacles that pushed the mugs across the bar. The pure hatred that throbbed visibly and seemed to feel cold when it got near you. The eyes like bursting orchids full of slimy white worms. ”

“ We saw Coal-Tits feeding young in three different places, but the bird was not common, and we did not meet with either the Marsh or the Long-tailed Tit. The Creeper has the reputation of being a shy singer, and when the trees are in leaf is easily overlooked; but, from the number of times on which we heard the song in many different localities, the bird must be very plentiful. The Tree-Pipit, like the Redstart, was unaccountably rare; we saw a pair in a wood at Holland Arms, heard three or four in song between Llanfair and Menai, and one at Llangoed, but none elsewhere. ”

“ Even as I hit I was scrambling sideways, intent on reaching the other side of the nearest tree; a hundred thorns were ripping my flesh, and my back felt as though it were half broken. My ears were throbbing, I supposed from the jolt of Halfspoor's blow. I tore myself out of the briers, leaped with a pounce like a cave cat's across an open space and took up a position of belligerent waiting behind a lichen-wrapped trunk. ”

“ Face naked, flesh-coloured; nose and cheeks black-haired; ears nude, black; hands short, thumbs rudimentary; hairs on the side of the head not forming whiskers. Top of head and upper surface of body olive-green—the hairs being grey at their roots and ringed with black and yellow; external surface of the fore-arms and legs grizzled-grey, the hairs with black and white rings; sides of the neck, under surface of the body, inside of the limbs, and the under side of the tail white; an indistinct band across the forehead over the eyes, white; tail dark grey above; callosities scarlet ”

“ Crepidula rugosa Crepidula rugosa- Cali. Largest on Cali. Coast, abundant ( (Crucibulum Crucibulum) ) Crepidula navicelloides Crepidula navicelloides- white, flat or irregular Crepidula lessoni Crepidula lessoni- like navicelloides, but long, narrow, thickened by several layers partly detached at edges. ( (Sentillina Sentillina) ) Crepidula dorsata Crepidula dorsata- small, flat circular, thin, wrinkled, brown and white, deck partly detached. Crepidula aculeata- low apex curved to one side, irregular radiating ribs, small, yellowish, white southern. ”

“ Thiese peculiar, weak-voiced Creepers are common in northern United States during the winter, when they may be seen slowly toiling up the tree trunks, searching the crannies of the bark for larvae. They make their nests behind loose hanking bark on old tree stubs, usually at low elevations, building them of twigs, bark, moss, etc., held together with cobwebs. ”

“ Odd red and white crabs emerged from their hiding places, a tiny fish that glittered with the dazzling hues of a fire opal flapped from under a bit of adhering seaweed, funny slug-like molluscs of intense blue and gold crawled about the mass, queer little snails were everywhere and when the boys disturbed the coral or handled it they heard odd snapping noises like lilliputian firecrackers. ”

“ Organic Remains.—The fossils of the cretaceous system are eminently marine: nearly all the plants which it contains (they are few) are of marine types; and the sponges, stellerida, mollusca, Crustacea, fishes, and reptiles, all appear to have been inhabitants of the ocean. Mammalia are not known in the cretaceous rocks. It appears that (excluding the Maestricht and Gosau beds) nearly the same large proportion of extinct genera, and the same differences of proportionate development of molluscous groups, is traced in the cretaceous as in the oolitic system ”

“ Since you will have it an Ingraftment rather than a Coalition, it shall be so; but why should it be an unnatural Ingraftment?
Over. Why indeed? Don’t we see Non-pareilles and Golden Pippins daily grafted on Crabs, and yet thrive? Ha, ha!
Sir John. Yes, Mr. Overall; because they are all nourished by their common Parent, the Earth; and the Crab-Tree is a Channel only for the Nurture to pass thro’. In this Case, the Earth, from whence both Species receive Nourishment, remains pure and uninfected; the Crab has no more Influence than the Pippin. ”

“ The creeper is not easy to find. He is so wonderfully protected by his dull brown feathers that he looks more like an animated lichen than a bird. His nest is a cleverly camouflaged affair, tucked behind loose bark and often containing eight whitish eggs about the size of beans. ”

“ I am as much pleased with the rustling of a simple crab, that runs for shelter, at my approach, into a [22] rocky crevice, or beneath a boulder, shaggy with corallines and sea-weed. He, too, while walking down some rural lane, may love to see a blackbird hastily woo the privacy of a hawthorn bush, or a frightened hare limp across his path, and strive to hide among the poppies in the corn-field; I am equally gratified with the sight of a simple razor-fish sinking into the sand, or with the flash of a silver-bodied fish darting across a rock-pool. ”

“ Thus, for instance, an insect, standing at the head of the articulated animals, is, in the larva state, a true annelid, or worm, the annelida being the lowest in the same class. The embryo of a crab resembles the perfect animal of the inferior order myriapoda, and passes through all the forms of transition which characterize the intermediate tribes of crustacea. The frog, for some time after its birth, is a fish with external gills and other organs, fitting it for an aquatic life, all of which are changed as it advances to maturity, and becomes a land animal. ”

“ Hair rising from the ridge on the lower edge of the brow to a crest on the top of the head, descending into a mane on the back of the head and neck; hair of the body bristly; chin bearded; whiskers proceeding from over the cheek-bones and from under the outer corner of the eyes, long, and directed from the face; the very large callosities, parts of the rump in their neighbourhood, and the inside of the thighs naked. Hands and feet naked.
Skull very massive, having numerous strong muscular crests; the jaws and teeth very powerful, especially the canines, which are huge ”

“ We all know that our Common Snails hybernate, or sleep through the winter. As soon as the chills of autumn are felt, they seek out some snug crevice in an old wall, or burrow in the earth, or congregate beneath garden pots, roots of trees, thatched roofs, or in any hole or corner that may be convenient, and then throwing a kind of temporary skin, like a drum head, which naturalists call operculum, over the opening of [20] their shells, and sticking themselves fast to the sides of their refuge, or to each other, they sleep away, careless of frosts and tempests. ”

“ If the Swallow were to visit us at this time, it would undoubtedly perish, for the air in winter is almost clear of insect life; but the little Creeper can live in ease when the sun is at Capricorn, just because he can climb so dexterously, for the bark of trees abounds with insects, and more particularly their eggs and larvae, which lie there torpid until called into life by the genial presence of the vernal sun. ”

“ It has, besides, a very long curved bill which will reach into crevices in the bark, and before the end of the winter, it has undoubtedly stripped the trees of a large proportion of the dormant insects and their eggs, especially as, like the other winter birds, it seems to have a very regular beat, visiting the same groups or rows of trees every day. Few birds are so strictly arboreal as the Creepers. The writer has only once seen one alight on the ground, when the bird flew to a little stream to bathe. ”

“ The creepers which are first seen are produced from the germination of the spore. Developing from this, the parasite shews itself on the roots, in the form of a filament or creeper, the outer covering being smooth and dark, while the pith or marrow is white. These creepers take root in the wood, penetrating the pith and spreading out until in the form of a membrane, they fix themselves in the regenerating zone. By some writers this root rot has been given the name of Rhizomorpha subcorticallus. ”

“ They are extremely active, in fact, fully as much so as the little Brown Creeper itself. Like it, they suddenly leave the uppermost branches or higher parts of the trunks, and diving downwards alight on the roots, and renew their search after small insects and larvæ. I never saw any of them pursue insects on wing.
The nest of this species is prettily constructed. Its outer parts are composed of grey lichens and soft mosses, the interior of silky substances and a few fibres of the Spanish moss. The female lays four pure white eggs, having two or three purple dots near the larger end. ”

“ The Black and White Creeper, nowhere an abundant species, is met with in various sections of the country. It occurs in all parts of New England and New York, and has been found in the interior as far north as Fort Simpson. It has been met with on the Pacific coast only at Mazatlan, is common in the Bahamas and most of the West India Islands, generally as a migrant. It has also been found in Texas, in the Indian Territory, and in Mexico, and throughout Central America. In the last-named region Mr. Salvin states it to be pretty equally and generally spread over the whole country. ”

“ 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. ”