2 
ochrascente ferrugineo lavatis: rostro brunneo, subtus albido, apice fusco: iride fusci: pedibus pallidé 
fuscis. 
Adult Male (Surrey, May). Head above, nape, and the fore part of the back dark brown, streaked with 
dull whitish or light ochre, the centre of each feather being of that colour; head darkest, and having 
the streaks narrowest; back duller in colour, and having broader streaks ; centre of the back yellowish 
brown, becoming yellowish rust-coloured on the rump, the streaks becoming fainter towards the lower 
part of the back ; scapulars dull yellowish brown, streaked with dirty white; wings dark brown, barred 
with pale yellowish brown or dirty yellowish white, all the quills, except the first five, tipped with dull 
whitish ; wing-coverts tipped with yellowish white; tail-feathers stiff and pointed, dull reddish brown, 
lighter on the margins, their shafts dull yellowish brown; over the eye a light streak ; sides of the head 
similarly coloured to the crown; entire underparts silvery white, on the vent and flanks washed with 
pale rusty yellowish ; bill slender, long, and curved, dark brownish horn in colour, lighter at the base 
of the lower mandible; legs light brown; iris brown. ‘Total length about 5 inches, culmen 0°7, wing 
2°5, tail 2°45, tarsus 0°65, middle toe with claw 0°65, hind toe with claw 0°65. 
Female. Similar to the male. 
Nestling (West Drayton). In general character resembling the adult bird, but has the upper parts dull 
dark brown, spotted with pale yellowish, and faintly shaded with rusty yellowish; bill very short, and 
almost straight ; underparts greyish white, duller on the vent and flanks. 
THE Common Creeper, or Tree-creeper, as it is frequently called, is found throughout the 
Palearctic and Nearctic Regions, being generally distributed, in suitable localities, in all Europe, 
Northern Africa, Asia, and North America, there being in Central America a somewhat modified 
form, which might almost be separated as a distinct species. 
In Great Britain it is generally distributed throughout the country wherever there are 
woods, and is a resident, though during the autumn and winter it wanders to some distance from 
its breeding-haunts. It does not, however, occur on the outer Hebrides; and speaking of its 
range in Scotland Mr. R. Gray writes (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 193), “this familiar, yet unob- 
trusive bird (the bark-speeler as it is called in North Britain), is found in limited numbers 
throughout all the western counties, but is wholly absent from the Outer Hebrides. Nor have 
I been able to trace it satisfactorily, even as a visitant, to any of the inner islands. It is, how- 
ever, occasionally found in Orkney. It is very common in the woods near Glasgow; and I have 
frequently seen it in the outskirts of the city in clumps of smoked fir trees—the melancholy 
remains of woods that have yielded to the invasions of house-building.” 
In Ireland it is resident, being found in districts in which old wood prevails; and Thompson 
(B. of Irel. i. p. 344) says that “in the woods of the counties of Down, Antrim, and Fermanagh 
this bird has occurred to me. It is found in the north of the county of Donegal, about Dublin 
and Youghal, is common in some parts of Westmeath and Killaloe, in Tipperary and Kerry. 
Mr. Pocle remarks that the Creeper is not uncommon in the wooded parts of the county of 
Wexford.” 
In Norway, according to Mr. Collett, it is common in all the lower conifer-woods, at least as 
high up as the Trondhjems-fiord, where it is common in Orkedal and Bérsen. In the Chris- 
