226 



ORDEE VII. 

 ANISODACTYLES. 



UNEQUAL-TOED. 



THE birds belonging to this order (of which the general 

 character or peculiarity has been already noticed) are all 

 small, and the British species are still fewer than those of the 

 last ; but some of the foreign, and especially the tropical ones, 

 among which are included the brilliant and truly wonderful 

 family of the humming-birds, are equally remarkable for their 

 beauty and their habits. There is little song among them, 

 their voices being in general harsh, and in some instances 

 absolutely grating, but loud in proportion to the size of the 

 birds. There are three, or perhaps four, British species, all 

 of different genera ; one generally distributed and resident, 

 one locally resident, and one a rare summer visitant. 



THE COMMON CREEPER (Certhia familiar is). 



The creeper is a most interesting little creature. With 

 the exception of the golden-crested wren, it is the smallest of 

 the British birds, weighing not more than a quarter of an 

 ounce, being about five inches in length, and seven and a half 

 in the stretch of wings. 



A figure is given of it on the plate at page 210, along with 

 the green wood-pecker and the kingfisher ; the creeper one- 

 third of the lineal dimensions, the kingfisher on the same 

 scale, and the wood-pecker on half the scale, or one-sixth in 



