NON-INDIGEKOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 47 



Family CERTHIID^. Genus Tichodroma. 



WALL-CREEPER. 



TiCHODRO-MA MURARIA {LilUUeUS). 



(British : Very rare abnormal spring and autumn migrant.) 



Said to be Double Brooded. Laying season, April to June 



and July. 



Breeding area : Southern Pal^earctic and extreme 

 northern Oriental regions. The Wall-Creeper breeds 

 in the mountain districts of Southern Europe and Asia, 

 from the Spanish peninsula to the mountains of Kansu. 

 It breeds throughout the mountain system of Spain and 

 Portugal, in the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Vosges, the 

 mountains of Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Elba, the Tyrol, 

 and Styria. It also breeds in the Carpathians, the 

 mountains of Greece, Asia Minor, and Palestine, and in 

 the Caucasus. Eastwards it breeds in the mountain 

 ranges of Turkestan, Afghanistan, and Cashmere, and 

 is also an inhabitant of the Himalayas. 



Breeding habits: The haunts of the Wall-Creeper 

 are rocky defiles, gorges, and the wall-like cliffs that 

 hem in the mountain torrents. There can be little doubt 

 that this beautiful bird pairs for life, as even in mid- 

 winter it may be seen in company with its mate, and 

 together they perform their wanderings at that season, 

 returning in spring to the old accustomed cliffs where 

 they breed. Although the bird is fairly common in 

 most of the mountains of Southern Europe, — even close 

 to world-famed tourist resort^ and notwithstanding the 

 fact of its being such an attractive species, but little 

 has been recorded or observed of its habits by English 

 naturalists. The nest is invariably made in some crevice 

 of the cliffs, often in a situation quite inaccessible. I 



