56 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
ashy tsabelline, washed on flanjg with grey ; under tail-coverts 
margined with white; bill slaty-grey. Length 4°6 inches; cul- 
men 0°65 ; wing 2°75; tail 1°4; tarsus 0°65. 
Adult Female: Very nearly resembles the male but has a 
slaty-blue head, the feathers showing black bases ; eye-stripe 
less conspicuous. 
Distribution : Known only from the mountains of Corsica. 
Habitat : Elevated pine forests. 
Family CERTHIIDZ. 
Genus CERTHIA. i 
CREEPER. Y 
Certhia familiaris Zznm. 
Adult: Crown dark brown, centres of feathers whitish ; 
superciliary streak whitish; neck and dack yellowish-dvown, 
streaked with whitish ; wings brown, banded with white or 
yellowish-white ; faz/ graduated with stiff points, dull reddish- 
brown ; beneath silvery-white, tinged on sides and vent with 
rufous ; 421 strongly decurved, slender, dark brown, yellowish 
beneath; legs and feet light brown; irides hazel. Length 
5 to 5°2 inches ; culmen 0°65 ; wing 2°5 ; tail 2°55 ; tarsus o'5. 
Nestling: Plumage fluffy; browner above and whitish 
mottlings more conspicuous. 
Distribution: Resident throughout most of Europe in 
wooded localities. 
Habitat: Woods and groves, especially of deciduous trees. 
Note.—Examples from South Europe are darker brown above, and the 
markings, if anything, whiter and more conspicuous. 
Genus TICHODROMA. 
WALL CREEPER. x 
Tichodroma muraria (Zzzm.) 
Adult Male (Summer) : Head, neck, dack and scapulars 
