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.