212 REPTATRICES. 



along the Thames, and in the counties of Cambridge, Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, and Lincoln. Residing among the reeds and other 

 aquatic plants, it clings to their stems in the manner of Tits, 

 Siskins, or Redpolls. Its food consists of seeds and small tes- 

 taceous mollusca. The nest, generally placed in a tuft of 

 grass or rushes on the ground, is composed of leaves of grass 

 and sedge, and lined with panicles of seeds. The eggs, five 

 or six, are eight and a half twelfths long, white, with a few 

 light red lines and dots. 



Bearded Titmouse. Least Butcher-bird. 



Parus biarmicus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 342. Parus biarmi- 

 cus, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 298. Calamophilus biarmicus, 

 Bearded Pinnock, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 694. 



While some birds, as the Vagatrices, are well adapted for 

 walking on the ground, and others, as the Cantatrices and 

 Deglubitrices, are fitted for hopping from twig to twig, or 

 for advancing on the ground by short leaps ; there are others 

 more peculiarly fitted for climbing in various ways. Thus, 

 the Parrots ascend by grasping the twigs with their feet and 

 bill ; the Woodpeckers and Creepers by hooking themselves 

 against the bark, and supporting themselves by pressing 

 their tail against the surface. Of these climbing birds some 

 have the three fore toes more or less united at the base and 

 spreading little, while others have the outer toe directed out- 

 wards or backwards. Hence two groups, designated by the 

 names of Creepers and Climbers. 



ORDER IX. REPTATRICES. CREEPERS. 



Birds of small size, having a slender body, short or mo- 

 derate neck, small oblong head. Bill more or less elon- 

 gated, slender, compressed, acute. Mouth narrow ; tongue 

 slender, varying in length ; oesophagus of moderate width, 

 without dilatation ; stomach of moderate size, oblong or 

 elliptical, with the lateral muscles rather thick, the epi- 



