THE WHITB-BKOWED TREE-CKEEPER 363 



The Brown Tree-creeper. 



Climacteris scandens. 



South Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South 

 Australia. 



Crown of head dark or blackish-brown, most of the feathers with 

 greyish edgings; hind neck, mantle and most of upper wing-coverts dark 

 olive-brown; rump, upper tail-coverts and tail feathers dark blue-grej'; 

 wings brown with pale-fawn coloured cross band; chin, cheeks, foreneck 

 and centre of breast white, with a creamy-buff tinge on lower breast and 

 centre of abdomen; each feather of sides, flanks and under tail-coverts 

 white, with a subterminal or marginal line of dark-brown; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries almost white; bill black; feet blackish-brown; iris 

 brown. Total length about 6 inches, culmen .8, wing 3.5, tail 2.5, tarsus .9. 

 The temale has a small orange-red spot just below the ear-coverts. 



A form with rich rusty-red colour on the rump and upper 

 tail-coverts was formerly separated as C pyrrhonota. 



A smaller variety, which is closely allied to G. scandens, but 

 has the upper throat and chin only white, with a pale greyish- 

 brown band across the chest, has been described from Queens- 

 land under the name of C. minor. 



The Red-browed Tree-creeper. 



Climacteris erythrops. 



Victoria, Xew South Wales and South Queensland. 

 Orbital region rich rusty-red. Like C. picumna on the upper parts 

 and like C. scandens on the lower. 



The White-browed Tree-creeper. 



Climacteris superciliosa. 



All Australia except the North-west and North. 

 Orbital region white; otherwise much like C. erythrops. 



The Tree-Creepers are charming little birds, and may often 

 be seen corkscrewing up the trunks of the trees, or working 

 round the branches, on the under" as on the upper side, in search 

 of insects lodged in the unevennesses of the bark. They always 

 hunt upwards in contrast to the Tree-Runners (Neositta) 

 which hunt down the limbs. They spend much of their time on 

 the ground, looking over the surface and the fallen boughs for 

 their insect prey. They pass over the ground in a succession 

 of quick shuffling hops. From the habit of- pecking at the bark 

 for insects they are often known locally as Woodpeckers, but 



