There are several other very pretty
birds in this homely family; but the finest of all is Thripodectes
flammulatus, the whole body being tortoise-shell colour, the wings and
tail bright chesnut. The powerful tanager-like beak of this species
seems also to show that it has diverged from its timid shade-loving
congeners in another direction by becoming a seed and fruit eater.
Probably the sober and generally protective colouring of the
tree-creepers, even with the variability and adaptiveness displayed in
their habits superadded, would be insufficient to preserve such feeble
birds in the struggle of life without the further advantage derived from
their wonderful nests. It has been said of domed nests that they are a
danger rather than a protection, owing to their large size, which makes
it easy for carnivorous species that prey on eggs and young birds to
find them; while small open nests are usually well concealed. This may
be the case with covered nests made of soft materials, loosely put
together; but it cannot be said of the solid structure the tree-creeper
bnilds, and which, as often as not, the bird erects in the most
conspicuous place it can find, as if, writes Azara, it desired all the
world to admire its work. The annual destruction of adult birds is very
great--more than double that, I believe, which takes place in other
passerine families. Their eggs and young are, however, practically safe
in their great elaborate nests or deep burrows, and, as a rule, they lay
more eggs than other kinds, the full complement being seldom less than
five in the species I am acquainted with, while some lay as many as
nine.
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