Family CERTHIIDA. 
Genus CERTHIA. 
Certhia, Linneeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 184 (1766). 
Motacilla apud Strom, Trondh. Selsk. Skr. 1770. 
Most authors agree in placing the Creepers next to the Nuthatches, where, indeed, they appear to 
fit in most naturally ; but Keyserling and Blasius arrange them far from the Nuthatches, making 
one group of them and the Wrens, which they place between the Starlings and the Dippers. 
The genus is found throughout the Palearctic, the northern part of the Oriental, the 
Nearctic, and the northern part of the Neotropical Regions, one species only being found in the 
Western Palearctic Region. 
In habits the Creepers are active and lively, and appear to be almost always on the move, 
searching for insects amongst the crevices of the bark of trees, up which they ascend spirally, 
clinging to the bark with their strong feet, progressing by short starts, supporting themselves by 
pressing their stiff tail against the bark. They feed on insects, larve, &c., and are often seen 
moving about in company with Titmice and other small birds. ‘They build a rather deep nest of 
straws or fibrous roots lined with feathers, which is placed behind a loose piece of bark or in a 
bundle of peasticks or some other convenient place, and deposit small white eggs spotted, chiefly 
at the larger end, with light red. 
Certhia familiaris, the type of the genus, has the bill long, slender, curved, tapering to a 
sharp point; nostrils oblong, basal, exposed; wings long, rounded, the first quill short, the 
second shorter than the seventh, the fifth longest; tail long, the feathers slightly arched, stiff, 
and pointed; tarsus slender, covered in front with four indistinct plates and three inferior 
scutelle; feet large, compressed, hind toe very large, claws long, arched, pointed, laterally 
grooved; plumage soft and blended. 
33 
eae 
