INSESSORES. 357 



the manner of the Woodpecker ; indeed, these birds probably 

 represent in Australia, the true Woodpeckers, which are not 

 found in that region. The Tui, or Poe-Bird, Prosthemadera 

 Cincinnata, of New Zealand, is about the size of a Black-Bird ; 

 from its great imitative power, it has been called " the Mocking- 

 Bird;" and from its peculiar plumage, the "Parson-Bird." 



FIFTH FAMILY*. CEEEPERS. 

 Cerihiada, (Gr. xtgOiog, kerthios, Creeper kind.) 



The birds of this family manifestly deviate from the tenuiros- 

 tral type, and approach the order of the Climbers, (Scansores.) 

 We therefore follow Cuvier and Charles Lucien Bonaparte, 

 who, while including them among the Thin-Billed Birds, place 

 them on the confines of the present order. (See Chart.) In these 

 birds the tongue is still capable of protrusion, but is no longer 

 divided into filaments; the tip, however, is sharp, horny, and 

 fitted for transfixing insects, which are sought beneath the bark 

 of trees, in crevices of walls, and similar concealed situations. 

 To aid them in taking their insect prey, the beak also is generally 

 slender, sharp-pointed and strong, curved in various degrees; 

 sometimes, as in the Wall Creeper, Tichodroma, (Gr. wall-run- 

 ner,) muraria, (of a wall,) a species of Southern Europe, the 

 beak is almost straight; and at others, as in the Tree-Creeper, 

 Dendrocolaptes, (Gr. tree-beater,) found in Brazil, the beak is 

 bont almost to a semi-circle. 



This family are Climbers, but still have not the feet of the 

 Climbers proper, (Scansoree.) with which M. Vigors arranges 

 them. The outer toe is not reversible, but the back toe is con- 

 siderably larger and stronger than it is in the greater part of the 

 perching birds. 



Some of these birds, as the Tree Creepers, have the shafts of 

 the tail feathers strong and rigid, and their tips are lengthened 

 beyond the barbs, as in the Woodpeckers, and to Vneet the same 

 exigency, viz. : the wearing away of the more fragile parts by 

 the constant friction of the tip of the tail against perpendicular 

 surfaces ; in the species now referred to that organ being thrown 

 in and pressed against the tree or wall for support in climbing. 



The Common Creeper, Certhia familiaris, is not more than 

 five inches in length, of a yellowish brown color above, the un- 

 der parts being white. It is generally distributed throughout 

 Europe and the United States. Wilson says: "The Brown 

 Creeper is an extremely active and restless little bird. In winter 

 it associates with the small spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, titmouse, 



