CLASSIFIED NOTES 479 



THE CREEPERS 1 



[Oni>ER: I'dsseriformeji. FAMILY: Cei-tl<l'i<ln\ 



NORTHERN TREE-CREEPER [Certl'm f-millidria famittdris Linnaeus. German, nordische 

 Bau,mldufer~\. 



1. Description. Differentiated from the British tree-creeper by its shorter bill (measuring 

 from the feathers of the forehead less than half an inch [13 mm.], that of the British form 

 measuring nearly three quarters of an inch [19 mm.]. The upper parts, moreover, are usually 

 whiter. The sexes are alike in coloration. Length 4| in. [120 mm.], [w. i>. i>. andr. w.] 



2 Distribution. This race breeds in the coniferous woods of Norway and Sweden up to 

 about lat. 65, in Finland, Russia from the Olonetz and Vologda governments through the Baltic 

 Provinces to Poland and Central Russia; also in North-east Germany, the Carpathians, and 

 probably the Dobrogea. In Asia its breeding range extends through the forest region of the 

 continent south to the Altai and east to the Sea of Okhotsk, Manchuria, etc. Has been 

 identified with certainty on one occasion from Fair Island (December 1906), and has probably 

 occurred at other times. [F. c. R. j.] 



WALL-CREEPER [Tichodroma murdria (Linnaeus). French, pic de murailles; German, 

 Alpen-Mauerldufer; Italian, piecio muraiolo]. 



1. Description. Recognised by the rose-crimson on the shoulders and wings. The sexes 

 are alike in coloration, and there is a distinct seasonal breeding-plumage. Length 6J in. [165 mm.]. 

 The adult in breeding-plumage has the general colour of the upper surface of the body greyish 

 slate, becoming darker on the rump and upper tail-coverts till the tail is quite black, with the 

 exception of a white bar at the tip of the two outermost pair of feathers ; primaries black, 

 with two large spots of white on the inner web of each feather, and with the basal half of the 

 outer web rose-crimson ; secondaries similarly coloured, but with the spot on the inner web light 

 chesnut instead of white ; throat black ; remainder of under surface of the body blackish slate. 

 The adult after the autumn moult lacks the black of the throat, these parts being uniform with 

 the remainder of the under surface, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2, Distribution. This species breeds in the mountain ranges of Central and Southern 

 Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula, the Pyrenees, and the Alpine chain to the Apennines, the 

 Carpathian range, the Balkan Peninsula and the Caucasus. In Asia its range extends eastward 

 from Palestine and Asia Minor through Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, etc., to the Himalayas, 

 Tibet, and Mongolia. It probably also nests on some of the Mediterranean islands (Elba, 

 Sardinia, and Cyprus). Outside the breeding season it seems to be rather an erratic wanderer, 

 and has been recorded from Germany, N. France (Brittany and Normandy), the Channel 

 Islands, and five times from England (Sussex three, Norfolk and Lancashire one each), as well 

 as southward in Asia to middle India, and perhaps also to North Africa. [F. c. R. J.] 



THE DIPPER 2 



[ORDER: Passeriformes. FAMILY: Cinclidce] 



BLACKBREASTED-DIPPER [Cinclus cinclus cinclus (Linnaeus). Scandinavian-dipper. 

 German, Wasserschwdtzer]. 



1. Description. Distinguished from the British and Irish forms (vol. i. pp. 297, 299) by the 

 absence of chesnut on the under surface. This, below the white, is dark chocolate-brown 

 inclining to black. Sexes alike. Length 7 in. [178 mm.], [w. p. p. and T. w.] 

 1 Vol. i. p. 280. ! VoL i. p. 298. 



