TBOGLODYTID^ : WRENS. 



273 



Fig. 146.) Characters as above. The stock-form 

 European varieties sometimes recognized are C. costoe 

 bird, which is iu- 



FlG. 146. —Head, foot, an<l tail-feather of Cer- 



18. CER'TIIIA. (Lat. certhius, a creeper. 

 of tiiisi gfiiiis varies according to locality, 

 and C. hritannica. The N. Am. 

 separable from the European, has been called C. 

 rufa, fusca, and amei-icana, for Eastern specimens, 

 C. montana for those from the Rocky Mt. region, 

 and C. occidentalis for those from the Pacific coast 

 region. The Mexican form, C. mexicana, diiFers 

 more appreciably, as below given. 

 62. C. faniilia'ris. (Lat. familiaris, from familia, 

 family; domestic, home-like. Fig. 145.) Brow^n 

 Creeper. ^ 9 : Upper parts dark brown, chang- 

 ing to nisty-brown on the rump, everywhere ^hia, ns.t. size. (Ad nat. del. E. c.) 

 streaked with ashy-white. An obscure whitish superciliary stripe. Under parts dull whitish, 

 sometimes tinged with rusty on the flanks and crissum. Wing-coverts and quills tipped with 

 white, the inner secondaries also with white shaft-lines, which, with the tips, contrast with the 

 blackish of their outer webs. Wings also twice crossed with white or tawny-white, the ante- 

 rior bar broad and occupying both webs of the feathers, the other only on the outer webs near 

 their ends. Tail grayish-brown, darker along the shaft and at the ends of the feathers, some- 

 times showvug "^l^solete transverse bars. Bill blackish above, mostly flesh-colored or yellowish 

 below; feet brown ; iris dark brown. Length of ^ 5.25-5.75; extent 7.50-8.00 ; wing 2.50 ; 

 more or less; tail usually a little longer than the wing, sometimes not so, 2.50 to nearly 3.00 ; 

 Ursus about 0.60 ; bill 0.65-0.75 ; 9 averaging smaller than ^. Temperate N. Am., in wood- 

 land, abundant, generally seen winding spirally up the trunks and larger branches of trees. 

 a3a. C. f. mexica'na. (Lat. of Mexico.) Mexican Creeper. Difiers in lacking light tips of the 

 primary coverts, and general richer coloration, the brown more rusty ; rump bright chestnut ; 

 under parts grayish. Mexico, to S. W. border of the U. S. (Not in Check List, 1882 ; since 

 ascertained to inhabit Arizona.) 



6. Family TROGLODYTID^ : Wrens. 



Embracing a number of forms assembled in 

 considerable variety, and difficult to define with 

 precision. Closely related to the last three fami- 

 lies ; known from these by nou-aeuminate tail- 

 feathers and exposed nostrils. Very intimately 

 resembling, in particular, the mocking group of 

 thrushes — those with scutellate tarsi and not 

 strictly spurious 1st primary ; but aU our wrens 

 are smaller than any of the Mimince, and other- 

 wise distinguished by less deeply cleft toes — as 

 stated on p. 248 ; " the inner toe is united by half 

 its basal joint to the middle toe, sometimes by 

 the whole of this joint ; and the second joint of 

 the outer toe enters wholly or partially into this union, instead of the basal only." Nostrils 

 narrowly or broadly oval, exposed, overhung by a scale; bill moderately or very slender, 

 straight or slightly decurved, from half as long to about as long as the head, unnotched 

 in all our genera; no evident rictal bristles; wings short, more or less rounded, with 10 

 primaries, the 1st short, but not strictly spurious; tail of variable length, much or little 

 rounded, of broad or narrow feathers, often held over the back. Tarsi scutellate, sometimes 



Fig. 147. —European Wren. (From Dixon.) 



behind as well as in front. 



18 



