Length: About 5¼ inches.
Male: Black, streaked with white--_no yellow_; head with broad black and
white stripes; body with narrow stripes; white stripe over eye,
black patch back of eye; striped throat and sides, white belly; tail
grayish black; outer tail-feathers with white patches on inner web;
wings black, with two distinct white bars.
Female: Similar, but with gray cheeks and whiter under parts, fainter
streaks, and brownish sides.
Song: A thin, unmusical _se-se'-se-se'-se-se'-se-se'_.
This Black-and-White Warbler is as easy to identify as a zebra, because
of its conspicuous black and white stripes. As it is found on
tree-trunks, it is sometimes confused with the brown creeper. Its
bill, however, is not curved like the creeper's, nor is its tail
used as a prop. It resembles the nuthatch in its ability to
_descend_ as well as _ascend_ tree-trunks.
These warblers, though they obtain their food from trees, nest on the
ground in nests not unlike those of the oven-bird.