OF VICTORIA. 137 



and occasionally bunting amongst a small pile of fallen 

 timber, all in tbe searcb for insects. In the spring it 

 makes a nest in a hollow of a tree, which you find by 

 seeing the bird go into it, subsequent to being attracted by 

 its piercing call. Tbe Tree-creeper is one of those Aus- 

 tralian birds that rarely drink, apparently needing very 

 little water. Closely allied is the Red-browed species 

 (C. erythrops), a bird found in New South Wales more than 

 in Victoria. 



Nest. — In a hollow of a tree, and composed of grasses 

 and feathers interiorly. 



Eggs. — Three to the sitting; deep flesh colour, with in- 

 numerable spots of reddish-brown. Length, 0*85 inch ; 

 breadth, 0*7 inch. 



WHITE-THROATED TREE- 

 CREEPER. 



Cliiiiactcris leiicophiea, Latli. 



Kll-inak' le-ris lii-ko-plit'a, 

 KUinakler, a step of a ladder ; leukophaes, white-gleaming. 



Climacteris picumnus, Gould, "Birds of Australia," fob, vol. iv., 



pi. 98. 



Geographical Distribution.— -Areas 2, 3, 4, 6, 7. 



Key to the Species. — General appearance brown; throat white; 

 fawn-coloured band across wing ; centre pair of tail feathers 

 dark grey ; tail square, soft, and shorter than wing ; bill 

 slender, long and curved. 



It is a significant fact that there are no wood-peckers in 

 Australia. The nearest approach is the tree-creeper, 

 distributed all over the continent by one or other of the 



