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Another species, the Brotvn-flanked 

 Silver Eye (Zosterops erythropleurus) 

 passes in migration. It has the sides 

 of the abdomen reddish brown. 



Family, Certhlidae. The Creepers. 



The Creepers are small mainly in- 

 sectivorous birds, and with the ex- 

 ception of the one species found in 

 the Yangtse Valley have very plain 

 plumage. 



They resemble the Nuthatches in 

 their habits, but differ from them in 

 having the slender bill pointed and 

 curved downward. Their feet are like 

 the Nuthatches, and their claws 

 equally as long, to adapt them for the 

 same kind of climbing, but the tail 

 feathers in the true Creepers are stiff, 

 and are used as a prop in climbing 

 like the Woodpeckers. The sexes are 

 usually alike. 



The Family includes about fifty 

 species, mainly of Old World dis- 

 tribution, of which China has three, 

 and the Yangtse Valley one. 



The Bed-ivinged Creeper (Ticho- 

 droma muraria) is a very rare bird, 

 plainly attired in brownish gray and 

 black, but marked with bright red 

 wing coverts. It occurs as a resident 

 in parts of Kiangsi Province. 



Family, Ploceidae. The Weaver Birds. 



This family have small, stocky 

 bodies, and the conical, thick bills 

 characteristic of the Sparrows or 

 Finches. In fact about the only 

 visible difference between them is the 

 possession of ten instead of nine 

 primaries, and even then, in many 

 species, the first primary is so minute 

 as to be observed with difficulty. 



