530 



PERCHING BIRDS 



The slender, curved beak and the long, graduated tail of stiff- 

 pointed feathers are alone sufficient to identify the tree - creeper. 

 Among the distinctive features of the plumage may be mentioned, the 

 dull white streak on each side of the head above the eye ; the pale 

 shaft-streaks to the dark brown feathers of the rest of the head, neck, 

 and back ; the buffish-white barring of the wings ; the dull reddish 

 brown tail ; and the silvery-white under-parts. No difference can be 

 detected between the plumage of the two sexes ; and young birds 

 differ merely by the more marked rufous - yellow tinge of the upper- 

 parts. 



Premising that it has been proposed to separate the Ikitish repre- 

 sentative of the species as Ccrtliia fajtiiliaris britannica, and that there 



may also be local races on 

 the continent of Europe and 

 in Asia, a very extensive 

 geographical range is pos- 

 sessed by the creeper, reach- 

 ing in fact from the British 

 Isles across Europe and Asia 

 north of the Himalaya to the 

 Pacific coast, while north- 

 wards it embraces Scandi- 

 navia as far as about latitude 

 60°, and southwards Algeria. 

 Pine -forests are, however, essential to its permanent presence in a 

 district. As regards the British Isles, the creeper is a resident and 

 generally distributed bird, extending as far north as Caithness and the 

 island of Skye, but only straggling occasionally to the Orkneys and 

 Shetlands. 



Although creepers are far from uncommon birds they are com- 

 paratively seldom seen, except by those who can recognise their 

 characteristic notes, and know how to look for them. To detect the 

 bird even when the note is recognised is, however, by no means an 

 easy matter, as the crccjicr is somewhat of a ventriloquist, and also has 

 the habit of keeping to the side of the tree opposite to that facing 

 the spectator, where it will often remain for a time without moving. 

 Owing to its stiff tail-feathers, this bird can ascend a tree-trunk in true 

 woodpecker-fashion, although the weakness of its beak prevents it from 

 either prising up pieces of bark like a nuthatch, or drilling holes like 

 a woodpecker. Con.scquently the small insects and spiders which con- 

 stitute the chief food of the species are taken on the outer surface of 



TKEK-CKKEI'EK. 



