48 



CERTHIID.E. 



Climacteris rufa. 



RUFOUS TREE-CEEEPER. 

 Climacteris rnfa, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1840, p. U9; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 94 (1848); 

 id., Handbk., Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 600 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. AIus., Vol. VIII., 

 p. 335 (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 357 (1903). 



Adult male — General colour above dark asliy-broivn, tinged with rufous on the rump; upper 

 wing-coverts and innermost secondaries like the back, the greater series dusky-brown, remainder of quills 

 dusky-brown, paler brown towards the tips and crossed in the centre with a broad rufous band except on 

 the three outermost primaries ; tail-feathers pale rufous-brown, crossed with a broad subterminal band of 

 blackish -brotvn, the central pair slightly darker and having near the shaft the remains only of the dark 

 subterminal cross-bar ; crown of the head dusky-brown; superciliary stripe rich rufous-brown; lores 

 cheeks and ear-coverts rusty-brown, becoming slightly paler 07i the throat; aniitdistinct band on the fore 

 neck dull ashy-brown some of the central feathers with a longitudinal stripe of dull ichite down the centre, 

 bordered on either side with a narrow black line; remainder of the under surface rusty-red, some of 

 the feathers with narrow white shaft streaks ; centre of the breast and abdomen rusty-broivn ; binder 

 tail-coverts dull rusty-broivn, some of the longer feathers margined at the tips and centred with dull white 

 also showing traces, more or less distinct, of blackish-brown cross-bars; "bill black: legs and feet black; 

 iris 6ro;<7i"— (Morgan). Total length 6-S inches, icing Sij, tail ^-7, bill OijS, tarsus 1. 



Adult female — Differs from the male in having the longitudinal diill ichite stripe to the feathers 

 OH the centre of the fore neck bordered with rusty-red instead of black. 



Distribution — Western Australia, South Australia. 

 /■ |(j%HE Rufous Tree-Creeper is an inhabitant of Western Australia, and the south-western 

 J- portion of South Australia. There are specimens in the Australian Museum collection 

 obtained by Mr. George Masters at Mongup, Salt River, Western Australia, in January, 1869, 

 and a skin received from Mr. K. Broadbent, procured west of Nonning, South Austraha. The 

 late Mr. F. W. Andrews obtained this species in the Gawler Ranges, and I have received for 

 examination from the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, a female procured at Donnell's Plain 

 by Dr. A. M. Morgan and Dr. A. Chenery, relative to which the former has sent the following 

 rote: — "During our trip from Port Augusta to the Gawler Ranges in .\ugust 1902, Climncteris 

 rufa was not seen until past Tardea, where it was fairly numerous, but never more than a 

 pair were seen together. In a strip of big mallee they were seen leaving holes in trees, but no 

 nests were found." 



From South-western Australia Mr. Tom Carter writes me : — ''Climacteris rufa is one of the 

 commonest birds about Broome Hill where the timlier is mostly White Gum (Eucalyptus rcdunca). 

 They are of a confiding nature, and soon after the building of my house a pair of these birds 

 would frequent the verandah to pick up bread crumbs at the \ery feet of anyone who choose to 

 feed them." 



The wing-measurement of adult males varies from y6 to 3-8 inches, and of adult females from 

 3'5 to 3-6 inches. 



In his " Handbook to the Birds of Australia," ■ Gould quotes the following notes of Gilbert's: — 

 "Climacteris rufa is a common bird at Swan River, Western Australia, and is most abundant in 

 the gum forests abounding with white ant. It ascends the smooth bark of the Eucalypti, and 

 traverses round the larger branches with the greatest facility, feeding like the other members of 

 the genus, upon insects of various kinds, but is frequently to be seen on the ground, searching 

 for ants and their larvae, and in this situation presents a most grotesque appearance from its 

 waddling gait. It makes a very warm nest of soft grasses, the down of flowers, and feathers, in 



• Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p 600, (1865). 



