The Emu 



Official Organ of the Royal Australasian Ornitholoj»ists' Union 



" Birds of a feather. 



Vol. XXII.' 1st AI'RIL, 1923. [R^rt 4. 



Tree-creepers of the Genus Climacteris 



Wy A. J. CAiMPIiELL. C.M.R.O.U., F.A.O.U. 



Mr. Gregory M. Mathews, in TJic Austral Avian Record, vol. 

 v., pp. 6-7, and following on his "List of the Birds of Australia" 

 (1913), has rearranged the Tree-creepers {Climacteris). 



Mr. Mathews "is allowing C. minor (the Little Tree-Creeper) 

 as a distinct species." Campbell and Barnard had already shown 

 good grounds why it should be separated. (See Bmii, vol. xvii., 

 p. 29, which may be read in conjunction with the coloured plate.) 



He is "admitting C. waifei (as a species) at present." On 

 examination of more material he will find that C. ivaitei {Emu, 

 xvii., pi. 1) is the immature bird of the Brown Tree-Creeper {C, 

 picnmna). The Allied Tree-Creeper (C wellsi), Grant 

 {Ibis, 1909, p. 664), appears to be a good species and not merely 

 a sub-species of C. melaniira (the Black-tailed Tree-Creeper). As 

 Grant has pointed out, C. wellsi is a near ally to C. melamira, 

 from which it may be readily distinguished. The adult male 

 has the general coloration of the under surface chestnut or Argus 

 brown, not the darker mummy brown ; the under tail coverts are 

 strongly barred, not narrow^ly tipped, white; and the general 

 upper surface is olive brown, not clove brown. The adult female 

 and immature bird differ in similar manner from those of C. 

 melanura. The following are the dimensions in mm. of 

 plesiotypes in the "H. L. \\'hite Collection," Nat. Mus., Melb. : — 

 No. 3003, —Length 170, culmen 16, wing 91, tail 70, 



tarsus 27. 

 No. 3002, —Length 165, culmen 15, wdng 91, tail 63, 

 tarsus 25. 



Mr. Mathews, on the grounds of priority, would change the 

 name of the White-browxd Tree-(2reeper {C. superciliosa). 

 North, to C. affinis, Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. 4, p. 

 453, 1863. The description, plate, type and type-locality of C. 

 snperciliosa are all perfectly clear (see Rcpt. Horn Exp. Central 

 Australia," pt. H., p 96 and pi. 7). Whereas, technically, the 

 description of C. affinis is anonymous (described by "The 

 Curator"), and is of a supposed variety of the Red-browed Tree- 



