HONEY-CREEPERS. 373 



THE HONEY-CREEPERS. 

 Family CcEREBID^. 



These birds constitute a small group of some forty species. They are allied to 

 the true warblers, so closely indeed, that some of the latter possess the deeply 

 bifid, pencillate tongue, which was once supposed to be peculiar to the honey- 

 creepers. Unlike the creepers of the Old World, the honey -creepers have soft- 



WEST INDIAN HONEY CREEPER OR BANANA-QUIT (* nat. size). 



feathered, squared tails. They are almost wholly confined to the tropical 

 parts of South America, only a single species ranging as far north as Florida; 

 but they are most numerously represented in the islands of the West Indian 

 group. 



West Indian Among the various genera of the family, we select for notice the 



Honey-Creepers. West Indian honey-creepers, of which a species (Certhiola flaveola) is 

 represented in our illustration. The members of this genus have the beak rather 

 shorter than the head, stout at the base, but tapering rapidly to the extremely acute 

 tip, and the whole bill much curved ; the wings are long, but the tail is short and 

 rounded. 



