202 BLACK AND WHITE CREEPER. 



■white, and tipped ivith white ; the three secondaries next the body are 

 dusky white on their inner webs, tipped on the exterior margin with 

 white, and above that alternately streaked laterally with black and dull 

 white ; the greater and lesser wing-coverts are exteriorly tipped with 

 white, the upper part of the exterior edges of the former rufous white ; 

 the line over the eye and whole lower parts are white, a little brownish 

 toward the vent, but on the chin and throat pure, silky and glistening ; 

 the white curves inwards about the middle of the neck ; the bill is half 

 an inch long, slender, compressed sidewise, bending downwards, tapering 

 to a point, dusky above and white below ; the nostrils are oblong, half 

 covered with a convex membrane, and without hairs or small feathers ; 

 the inside of the mouth is reddish ; the tongue tapering gradually to a 

 point, and horny towards the tip ; the eye is dark hazel ; the legs and 

 feet a dirty clay color ; the toes placed three before and one behind, 

 the two outer ones connected with the middle one to the first joint ; the 

 claws rather paler, large, almost semicircular, and extremely sharp 

 pointed ; the hind claw the largest. The figure in the plate represents a 

 male of the usual size in its exact proportions, and, but for the satisfac- 

 tion of foreigners, might have rendered the whole of this pi'olix 

 description unnecessary. 



Species II. CERTHIA MACULATA* 



BLACK AND WHITE CREEPER. 



[Plate XIX. Fig. 3.] 



Edwards, pi. 300. — White poll Warbler, Arct. Zool. 402, No. 293. — Lefiguier varii, 

 Buff, v, 305. — Lath, ii., 488. — Turton, i., p. 603. 



This nimble and expert little species seldom perches on the small 

 twigs ; but circumambulates the trunk, and larger branches, in quest 

 of ants and other insects, with admirable dexterity. It arrives in 

 Pennsylvania, from the south, about the twentieth of April, the young 

 begin to fly early in July ; and the whole tribe abandon the country about 

 the beginning of October. Sloane describes this bird as an inhabitant 

 of the West India Islands, where it probably winters. It was first 

 figured by Edwards from a dried skin sent him by Mr. William Bartram, 

 who gave it its present name. Succeeding naturalists have classed it 

 with the warblers ; a mistake which I have endeavored to rectify. 



The genus of Creepers comprehends about thirty different species, 

 many of which are richly adorned with gorgeous plumage ; but, like 



* Linnaeus placed this bird in .his genus Motacilla, and Latham arranged it in 

 Sylvia. It does not h^'ong to the genus Certhia as at present restricted. 



