TREE-CREEPER 157 



rockwork, in the cage, they gradually spent more and 

 more time in cramming their crops, and one by one they 

 dropped off, until, at the end of the twenty-second day, 

 the last of the five died. I may add that, although when 

 first taken these young Sand-Martins were beautifully 

 clean, they so messed their faces with the soft food it 

 was necessary to give them, that before they died all 

 their beauty had departed." — A. G. Butler {Zoologist, 

 1887, p. 348). 



Family CERTHIID^. 



Genus CERTHIA, Linnaeus. 



TKEE-CEEEPEE. 



Certhia familiaris, Linneeus. S.N., i., p. 184 

 (1788). 



Creeper, Boys, Sandwich, 1792. 



This curious little bird is far from plentiful in Kent, 

 and its preference for old orchards and rough old trees is 

 well known. This may be for a partial disguise and 

 protection, the colour and markings of the plumage 

 assimilating with those of the bark on which they cling. 

 It is a very pretty sight to watch a pair of Tree-Creepers 

 on a bright, sunny morning in early spring climbing a 

 lichen-covered apple or other tree, when they display the 

 beautiful markings of the wings and tail by spreading 

 them out and lying flat on the trunk of the tree in the 

 sun. In this position, unless they move, they are lost 



