CERTHIN^. 383 



247. Tichodroma muraria, Lin. 



Certlaia, apud LiNNiEUS — Blytii, Cat. 1137— IIoRsr., Cat. 

 1046— Gould, Birds of Europe, pi. 239 — T. phrenicoptera, Tem. — 

 T. sub-himalayana, HoDGS. — T. nipalensis, Bonap. — Saggorsa 

 lamdong-pho, Lepch. 



The Red-winged Wall-creeper. 



Descr. — Above, light cinereous-grey ; wings, witli the lesser 

 coverts, lightca rmine ; the greater coverts and the primary coverts 

 dull carmine, dusky at the tip internally ; quills, except the first 

 three, red on their outer web for the basal half ; the rest black, 

 with two large white spots on the 2nd to the 5th primaries ; 

 tertiaries with a light grey triangular patch on the outer web, next 

 the red; quills faintly tipped with albescent; tail brownish-black, 

 with a pale Avhitish tip, wider on the outermost feathers, narrow 

 on the others ; beneath, throat and breast white ; the rest of the 

 plumage dark slaty-cinereous. 



Length 6^ to 7 inches ; wing 4 ; tail 2| ; bill at front 1^ ; 

 foot If. 



This bird was declared by Bonaparte, in his Conspectus Generum 

 Avium, to be distinct from the European species, in having thecheeks 

 and abdomen blackish, passing into the scarcely darker color of the 

 chin ; but I can see no difference between specimens from Europe 

 and others from the Himalayas. 



It is found throughout the Himalayas, descending in winter 

 to the Alpine parts of the Punjab. It is also found in Cashmere, 

 in Afghanistan, and the south of Europe. I saw it frequently near 

 Darjeeling, but only in winter, froma level of 2,500 to 5,000ft. orso. 

 I first saw it in a tea plantation at Kursion, hunting along some small 

 bare ravines that the rains had made in the cleared ground ; occa- 

 sionally on the bank of a road. I also saw it on rocks on the 

 road side, and on perpendicular cliffs along some of the rivers. 

 It looks very beautiful when flitting about, the fine red patch on its 

 wings displayed, which it seems fond of doing continually, and, as 

 remarked by Vignc, looking more like a butterfly than a bird. 

 I found that it had eaten chiefly spiders and coleoptera, &c. It 



