CERTHIAD.?^. 



12] 



SUB-FAMILY III. 



Dexdrocolaptin^. 



The T, 



ree-creepers iwoiw.v. 



Gen. Charac. — Bill of various length and form, more or less curved, and 

 compressed on the sides to the tip, which is usually entire ; the nostrils 

 basal, lateral, small, and exposed; the wings moderate and generally 

 rounded ; the tail long, broad, and graduated, with the shaft of each feather 

 prolonged beyond the web, and acute ; the tarsi moderate, strong, and 

 broadly scaled; the toes long, the outer toe rather longer than the middle 

 one, and united for some distance from the base, the inner short and slightly 

 united at the base, the hind toe long ; the claws long, compressed, much 

 curved, and acute. 



Fig. 47. — the stkiped-headed tree-creepee. 

 {DendrocoUiptes lineatocephaliis.) 



The Tree-creepers are distinguislied by the 

 structure of their tail, which is long, broad, and 

 graduated. The typical species inhabit the vast 

 forests of the warmer parts of South America. They 

 are usually observed clinging to the trunks and 



* ^sj'Opoj/, dendron, a tree ; koXcitttm, colapto, to pech ; Tree- 

 peckers. 



