Order II. PASSERES. Tribe II. Tenuirostres. 



The fifth Family, 



CERTHID^E, or Creepers, 



have the Bill more or less long, and generally slender, with the tip entire and slightly arched ; the 

 Nostrils usually small, and covered by a membranous scale ; the Wings of various lengths, sometimes 

 rounded, and sometimes rather pointed ; the Tail varying much in length and form ; the Tarsi and 

 Toes differing much in length, especially the latter, and forming characters for the separate subfamilies 

 of this large group. 



Thcfifth Subfamily, 



FURNARINiE, or Oven-Birds, 



have the Toes rather long, the lateral ones unequal, the outer rather the longest, and slightly united at 

 its base, the inner toe free at its base. 



Furnarius VieilL* 



Bill more or less long, slender, and compressed on the sides, with the culmen slightly curved at the 

 tip, which is entire ; the nostrils basal, lateral, placed in a small nasal groove, with the opening oval, 

 partly closed by a membrane, and clothed with the frontal plumes. Wings moderate, with the first 

 quill shorter than the second, and the latter shorter than the third, which is slightly shorter than the 

 fourth and fifth ; these are very nearly equal and longest. Tail moderate, rather square, or rounded 

 on the sides. Tarsi much longer than the middle toe, and covered with broad scales. Toes moderate, 

 with the lateral toes equal, and the outer one united at the base ; the hind toe nearly as long as the 

 middle toe, strong, and armed with a strong curved claw. 



It is in the warmer parts of South America that these small birds are found, especially in the bushes on the banks 

 of the rivers, or in those near the dwellings of man, and even in open places. They are always seen in pairs, very 

 active, and capable, when on the ground, of running and walking with great rapidity ; their flight is not much 

 prolonged, being only from bush to bush, which they minutely examine for insects, chiefly those of the coleopterous 

 kind, although they occasionally feed on seeds. When perched on an eminence or tree, the male utters a series of loud 

 shrill notes that are peculiar to these birds ; those of the female are of the same kind, though delivered in a much lower 

 key. The nest is generally built in an exposed situation, as on a thick leafless branch, the top of a paling, or on windows, 

 but sometimes even in the interior of houses and other buildings. Both sexes work in concert, and each alternately 

 brings a lump of clay, and pieces of straw, or the dry stems of plants, which they place, and then go to procure others ; 

 when finished, it has the appearance of an oven, of about six to eight inches in diameter, and about one inch in thickness. 



* Established by Vieillot in 1816 (Analyse, #c. p. 47.). Opetiorhynchus of M. Temminck (1820) and Figulus of Spix (1824) are 

 coequal with the name employed. 



