214 CERTHIIN^E. CERTHIA. 



rounded, the first quill short ; tail of moderate length, 

 rounded. 



GENUS LXX. CERTHIA. TREE-CREEPER. 



Bill rather long, very slender, subtrigonal, tapering, ar- 

 cuate, much compressed, acute ; upper mandible with its dor- 

 sal line arcuate, the ridge very narrow, the edges sharp, 

 without notch ; lower mandible with the angle very narrow, 

 the dorsal line decurved ; gape-line arcuate. Tongue long, 

 narrow, sagittate, tapering, lacerate, acute ; oesophagus of 

 moderate width ; stomach elliptical, muscular ; intestine very 

 short ; coeca very small. Nostrils linear-oblong, exposed. 

 Eyes of moderate size. Head ovato-oblong ; neck short ; 

 body small. Tarsus slender, compressed, with seven scu- 

 tella, the upper indistinct ; toes rather large, extremely com- 

 pressed ; hind toe very large, second much shorter than 

 fourth, anterior united at the base ; claws very long, arched, 

 extremely compressed, laterally grooved, very acute. Plu- 

 mage very soft, blended ; wings rather long, convex, much 

 rounded, of nineteen quills, the first short, the fourth and 

 fifth longest ; tail long, of twelve slightly arched, stiffish, 

 pointed feathers. 



\/138. CERTHIA FAMILIARIS. BROWN TREE-CREEPER. 



Upper part of the head dark brown, neck and back yellow- 

 ish-brown, each feather with a median whitish streak ; rump 

 yellowish-red ; wings with a transverse whitish band ; lower 

 parts silvery white. Young similar, but with the feathers 

 more loose, and the tints duller. 



Male, 5 T *,, 8, 2 A, T V, ^ **> iV Female, 5 A, 7. 



The Brown Tree-creeper is permanently resident in all the 

 wooded parts of the country, but nowhere numerous. It 

 alights at the bottom of a tree, clinging to the bark with its 

 claws, ascends by short starts, leaping forward as it were, and 

 supporting itself by pressing its tail against the bark. Its 

 food consists of insects, larvae, and pupse, which it finds in the 

 crevices. On ordinary occasions it pays little attention to a 

 person intruding upon its haunts, and may thus be easily shot. 

 Its nest is placed in some hole in a tree, or rock, or among 

 the roots in a mossy bank, and is composed of grass, moss, 



