172 



CERTHIIDAE. 



82. Tree Creeper, Certhia familiaris L. 

 Geographical Races. 



a. British Tree Creeper, €. familiaris brittaniea Ridgw. 



Plate 26, fig. 13 (Suffolk. 29 IV.). 



Eggs: Hewitson, I Ed. I, pi. XLIX, fig. 3; 11 Ed. I, pi. LlII, 

 fig. 2; III Ed. I, pi. LXII, fig. 2. Seebohm, Br. Birds, pi. 11; id. Col. 

 Fig. pi. 54. Frohawk, Br. Birds, I, pi. Ill, fig. 88—90. 



British Local Names:. Tree Climber, Tree Runner. Welsh: 

 Ycropiedydd. Scotland: Woodpecker, Bark Speeler. Certhia familiaris 

 L. Newton, ed. Yarrell, I, p. 468; Dresser, Birds of Europe III, p. 195 

 and Man. Pal. Birds, p. 192 (part.); Saunders, Man. p. 117. C. familiaris 

 hrittanica Ridgw. Hartert, Yog. Pal. Fauna, p. 320. 



Breeding Hange: The British Isles, with the exception of the 

 Orkneys, Shetlands and Outer Hebrides. 



British In Great Britain this unobtrusive little bird is very generally 



^*^®'' distributed in almost all well wooded districts, more especially where 

 there is plenty of old timber, and in some localities, such as Devonshire, 

 Pembroke, etc. is plentiful. It is of course absent from the barren and 

 treeless districts ; but in Wales it haunts the wooded hillsides up to about 

 1000 ft, and is resident as far N. as Caithness and E. Sutherland on 

 the mainland, as well as on Skye, and some of the larger islands on 

 the W. coast of Scotland, such as Mull and Jura. It is also found on 

 the Isle of Man and Anglesea, and in all the wooded parts of Ireland. 



Neit. This is very characteristic, and is usually placed behind a piece of 



loose bark, in the narrow space between it and the trunk of the tree. 

 Occasionally it is found in some crevice or split in the trunk, and may 

 sometimes be placed within a foot or two of the ground, and at other 

 times as much as 30 or 35 ft. high, while Booth records one in the 

 roots of a dead stump, which was some distance below the ground level. 

 Old willows by the side of streams are very frequently chosen as 

 nesting sites on account of the structure of the bark. Another favourite 

 nesting place is behind the stems of ivy encircling a tree. Where the 

 timber is young or suitable sites are scarce the Creeper will nest in 

 buildings and outhouses, building in crannies between upright boards 

 or window ledges, behind loose plaster, or underneath eaves, and in 

 piles of timber. In Merioneth I have seen the nest in the interstices of 

 a loose stone wall in a wood, Macpherson records a similar case from 

 the Lake District, and Booth from Scotland, while in Ireland according 



