168 



CERTHIAD.E. 



barred with pale brown and greyish black ; tertials with a 

 dark central stripe, and tipped with greyish white ; tail- 

 feathers reddish brown, stiff, pointed, and slightly bent 

 downwards ; chin, throat r breast, and belly, white ; but 

 generally bearing the appearance of being soiled by contact 

 with the exposed surface over which the bird had climbed ; 

 all the plumage thick, soft, and silky ; legs, toes, and 

 claws, light brown. 



The whole length of the bird rather more than five 

 inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, two 

 inches and three -eighths : the first feather very short ; the 

 second nearly half an inch shorter than the third ; the 

 third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, nearly equal in length, but 

 the fourth rather the longest feather in the wing. 



