THE SEARCHERS. 23 



black at its tip ; the foot is yellow. The length of this bird is four inches and three-quarters, the wing 

 measures three inches and a half, and the tail one inch and a half. 



Gould tells us that these Creepers exhibit great facility in climbing and descending the branches 

 of trees and are usually seen frequenting their favourite haunts in small parties. Although endowed 

 with very considerable powers of iiight, they rarely employ their ^vings, except when desirous of 

 attaining a neighbouring tree. Their cry is a short, weak, piping note. The small nest, which is 

 usually placed upright on the foot of a branch, is smoothly and artistically formed of strips of bark, 

 fastened together by spiders' webs. Incubation commences in September. The eggs, three in 

 number, are white, marked with circular green spots. 



The WALL CREEPERS (Tichodromd) are recognisable by their compact body, short neck, 

 large head, and very long, thin, and almost rounded beak, which is slightly curved and pointed at its 

 tip. The feet are strong, the toes slender, and armed with large hooked and pointed claws. The 

 first quill of the small, rounded wing is very short, and the fourth or fifth longer than the rest ; the 

 short tail is formed of soft, broad feathers, rounded at their tips. The lax, silky plumage is usually 

 bright in hue, but varies in its coloration at different seasons. The tongue, which resembles that of 

 the Woodpecker, is three-quarters of an inch long, sharp at its extremity, and furnished mth numerous 

 bristle-like hooks. 



THE ALPINE OR RED.WINGED WALL CREEPER. 



The Alpine or Red-winged Wall Creeper {Tichodroma murarid) is principally of an 

 ash-grey tint ; the region of the throat is black in winter and white in summer ; the \\-ings and 

 tail are mostly black ; but all the quills of the former, from the third to the fifteenth, are of a bright 

 red towards the base, as are the smaller shoulder-feathers, and a narrow border on the outer web of 

 the large wing-covers. The quills ate decorated with -yvhite or yellow spots on the inner web, and 

 the tail-feathers are bordered with white ; the eye is brown ; the beak and foot are black. This 

 species is six inches and one-third long, and ten inches and a half broad ; the wing measures three 

 inches and a half, the tail two inches and a quarter ; the beak is from eighteen to twenty lines long. 



This interesting bird is very commonly met with upon the Alps, P}Tenees, Apennines, Balkan, 

 Carpathian, and other mountains. Riippell saw it on the Altai and Abyssinian ranges. Jerdon 

 tells us that it is common on the Himalayas, and is also found in Cashmere and Afghanistan. 



" This bird," writes Jerdon, " is found throughout the Himalayas, from whence it descends in 

 winter to the Alpine parts of the Punjab. It is also found in Cashmere, Afghanistan, and the 

 southern parts of Europe. I saw it frequently near Darjeeling, but only in the ^^^nter, at a height of 

 from 2,500 to 5,000 feet or so. I iirst met with it in a tea plantation at Kursim, hunting along some' 

 small, bare ravines that the heat of the sun had made in the ground, and occasionally on the bank of 

 a road. I have also seen it on a rock by the wayside, and on perpendicular cliffs along some of the 

 rivers. It looks very beautiful when flitting about, the fine red on its wings fully displayed ; and, 

 indeed, has the appearance rather of a butterfly than a bird. Such specimens as I have examined had 

 eaten spiders and coleoptera." This species has no call-note. In Europe it descends from the Alps, 

 and is found on walls of old buildings, whence the name given by Linnsus. It is stated to breed in 

 clefts and holes of rocks, and in old buildings. The eggs, we are told, are of a fine bright red. 



The smallest of the Climbing Birds may be conveniently divided into two groups, the Tree 

 Creepers and Tree Peckers. 



The TRUE TREE CREEPERS {Certkta) are very small and slender, witli delicate, sharply- 



