CERTHIIDA. 117 
THE TREE-CREEPER. 
CERTHIA FAMILIARIS, Linnzus. 
Although tolerably numerous, the Tree-Creeper is not very fre- 
quently observed, owing to its small size, modest colours, and the 
quickness with which it shifts its position on the trunk or branch of 
the tree where it is seeking for spiders and other insects that lurk 
in the crevices of the bark. It is generally distributed throughout 
Great Britain from Cornwall to Caithness, occasionally wandering to 
the Orkneys and Shetlands, and residing in Skye, though not found 
in the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland it is common in every county 
where timber prevails. 
In Norway the Tree-Creeper is abundant in all the lower conifer- 
woods up to Trondhjems-fjord ; while eastward it occurs in Sweden, 
Russia, and across Siberia, as far north as trees flourish, to the 
Pacific. Southward, it is found in Japan, Northern China, and 
Asia down to the Himalayas, in and south of which several distinct 
species replace it ; westward, it inhabits Persia, Asia Minor, Tunisia, 
Algeria, and the basin of the Mediterranean generally as far as 
the Spanish Peninsula; and central it is distributed throughout 
Europe in suitable localities. Mr. Hartert (‘Novitates Zoologicze,’ 
