322 CEKTHIID^. 



Group III. CERTHIOMORPH^ 



(Cat. B. vol. iii. p. 3). 



Family CERTHIID^. 



Bill cither straight and subiilate, or slender, long, and curved. 

 Nostrils basal. Wings with 10 primaries ; like the tail, very variable 

 in shape and structure. Tail never emarginated. Tarsi compara- 

 tively short, anteriorly covered with transverse scales, which only 

 in Tichadroma and Climacteris early fuse together ; both sides of 

 tarsus covered with one long scutum. Hallux with claw longer 

 than middle toe, its first phalanx at least half the length of the 

 tarsus : claws laterally compressed, strongly curved and sharp, that 

 of the hallux by far the longest. Fourth toe coalesced at first 

 phalanx with the middle toe. Tongue simple, pointed, neither cleft 

 nor beset with bristles. Sexes generally alike in plumage, or dif- 

 fering only slightly. No crest. Principally insectivorous ; breeding 

 in holes. 



Range. Cosmopolitan with the exception of South America and 

 New Zealand. 



Synoj^sis of the Subfamilies. 



A. Bill curved downwards CERTHIIN.^, p. 322. 



B. Bill straight and subidated; tail soft, 



short, and rounded SITTING, p. 340. 



Subfamily I. CERTHIIN^. 



Bill slender, generally longer than the rest of the head, curved 

 downwards ; culmen keeled, without a tooth or a notch at the tip. 

 Nostrils basal, longitudinal, operculated, exposed. Nasal and rictal 

 bristles absent. Wings and tail variable in size and structure; first 

 primary always present, although sometimes spurious. Tarsus an- 

 teriorly covered with transverse scales in Salpornis and C'erthia^ 

 with one scutum in Tichodroma and Climacteris. Hallux with its 

 claw longer than the longest toe ; claws, especially the hind claw, 

 long, much curved, and very sharp. Tongue not cleft. 



Sexes generally alike in plumage, which, with the exception of 

 the grey-and-red Tichodroma, is very plain, brown and spotted ; red 

 (but for 'Tichodroma), green, blue, and yellow colours are absent. 



The Certhiince are small, non-migratory, mostly insectivorous 

 bii'ds ; they lay many eggs, generally in holes. They comprise four 

 genera, with about 10 species, which are distributed all over the 

 world with the exception of South America, New Zealand, and 

 Madagascai'. 



