Two broods are raised in the season. The young go about in company, following the parents, and it is not unusual to see nine or ten of these birds scrambling with great activity along the trunk of a tree. I have not found its nest in the Middle States, where, however, I am convinced many breed.
The young are similar in colouring to the females. The young males do not acquire their full plumage until the following spring.
A male of this species is represented on a twig of the tree commonly called the Black Larch.
Sylvia varia, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 539.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 81.
White-poll Warbler, Lath. Synops. vol. iv. p. 488.
Black-and-white Creeper, Certhia varia, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 23. Pl. xix. fig. 3.
Adult Male. Plate XC.
Bill rather long, slightly arched, compressed, extremely slender, acute; nostrils basal, narrow, half-closed by a membrane. General form slender. Feet of ordinary length, slender; tarsus longer than the middle toe, scutellate before; toes free, scutellate, the hind one proportionally larger; claws compressed, very acute, arched.
Plumage soft and blended. Wings of ordinary length, third quill longest, secondaries short. Tail nearly even, of twelve narrow, rounded feathers.
Bill black. Iris hazel. Feet dusky yellow. Middle of the head longitudinally white, bordered on each side by a broad stripe of black, beneath which, on each side, over the eye, is a line of white. Ear-coverts and chin black. Back and breast streaked with white and black. Wings black, the outer margins of the quills greyish-white, the tips of the larger coverts, excepting the primary ones, white, forming two broad bands of that colour across the wing. Tail black, tinged with bluish-grey externally, the ends of the inner webs of the three outer feathers on each side white. Abdomen white; sides and under tail-coverts white, spotted with black.
Length 51⁄2 inches, extent of wings 71⁄2; bill along the ridge 1⁄2.
