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FAMILY CERTHlNiE 



CREEPERS. 

 GENUS CERTHIA — LINN. 



TREE CREEPER. 

 [Bill about the same length as the head, compressed, aiched, acute at tip- 

 extremely slender; general form slender ; wings of moderate length ; tail long 

 of twelve pointed feathers ; tarsi compressed, slender, longer than the middle 

 toe; feel and toes slender — hind toe larger.] 



CERTHIA FAMILIARIS— LINN. 



BROWN TREE CREEPER. 



Brown Creeper, Certhia familiaris, Wils. Amer. Om. 



Cerihia familiaris, Bonap. Syn. 



Brown Creeper, Nutt. Man. 



Brown Creeper, Certhia familiaris, Aud. Orn Biog. 



Specific Character — Bill compressed, slender, arched ; tail long-, 

 graduated : the feathers stiff and pointed. Adult with upper parts 

 reddish-brown ; darker on the head ; all the feathers with a central 

 dull whitish streak ; lower parts silvery white ; sides of the body- 

 tinged with brown ; wings deep brown, the coverts tipped with dull 

 yellow — the secondaries at the base barred with the same; both 

 webs of the quills crossed with a dull yellowish band, excepting the 

 outer three, which are plain brown — the rest with a greenish-yellow 

 patch on their outer web toward the tips, which are dull white ; rump 

 and upper tail coverts rusty-brown ; tail feathers very long, of a 

 yellowish-brown color — darker next to the shafts, and tapering to a 

 point ; bill about half an inch long, slender arched, the point acute; 

 cheeks dark brown ; a band over the eye silvery white. Length 

 five inches, wing two and five eighths. 



With us the Brown Creeper is found at all seasons of the year. 

 It frequents the woods, in pursuit of food ; when thus employed it 

 is observed creeping along the trunks of the trees, directing its 

 course upward to the higher branches — sometimes spirally, and 

 often in a direct line. The tallest trees are usually preferred — and 

 having accomplished its journey, it shoots downward, alighting on 

 the body of a neighboring tree, a few feet above the roots, when it 



