COMMON CREEPER. 173 



light greyish brown ; rump reddish tawny ; wing-feathers 

 brown ; wing-coverts tipped with dull white ; primaries 

 barred with pale brown and greyish black ; tertials with a 

 dark central stripe, and tipped with greyish white ; tail- 

 feathers reddish brown, stiff, pointed, and slightly bent 

 downwards ; chin, throat, breast, and belly, white ; but 

 generally bearing the appearance of being soiled by contact 

 with the exposed surface over which the bird had climbed ; 

 all the plumage thick, soft, and silky ; legs, toes, and claws, 

 light brown. 



The whole length of the bird is rather more than five 

 inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, two 

 inches and three-eighths : the first feather very short ; the 

 second nearly half an inch shorter than the third ; the third, 

 fourth, fifth, and sixth, nearly equal in length, but the 

 fourth rather the longest feather in the wing. 



