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FAMILY IX. CERTHIANJE. CREEPERS. 



Bill of moderate length or rather long, slender, slightly arched, much 

 compressed, acute; upper mandible with its dorsal outline convex or arched, 

 the ridge narrow, the notches slight or obsolete, lower mandible with the 

 angle rather long and narrow, the dorsal line straight or slightly decurved, 

 the edges inclinate, the tip acute. Head moderate, ovate; neck short, body 

 slender. Feet of moderate length, or rather short; tarsus about the same 

 length as the middle toe, compressed, with eight anterior scutella; toes of 

 moderate length, much compressed, hind toe proportionally long, outer 

 adherent at the base; claws rather long, extremely compressed, arched, 

 acute. Wings short or of moderate length. Tail of twelve feathers, gene- 

 rally much rounded. Tongue slender, emarginate and papillate at the base, 

 very narrow, tapering to a lacerated point. CEsophagus of moderate width, 

 without crop; proventriculus bulbiform; stomach of moderate size, oblong, or 

 elliptical, moderately muscular, with the muscles distinct; epithelium dense, 

 longitudinally rugous; intestine short, rather wide; coeca very small; cloaca 

 globular. Trachea simple, with four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles. 



GENUS I.— CERTHIA, Linn. TREE-CREEPER. 



Bill about the same length as the head, very slender, arched, much com- 

 pressed, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line arched, the ridge narrow, 

 the sides sloping at the base, nearly erect in the rest of their extent, the 

 edges sharp, arched, without notch, the tip acute; lower mandible with the 

 angle rather long, narrow, and pointed, the outline decurved, the sides erect 

 and convex, the edges inclinate, the tip acute. Nostrils linear-oblong, oper- 

 culate. Head ovate; neck short; body slender. Feet rather short, very 

 slender, tarsus rather shorter than the middle toe, very slender, much com- 

 pressed; toes extremely compressed; the first comparatively large, longer 

 than the middle toe, including the claw; the inner toe shorter than the outer; 

 claws long, moderately arched, slender, extremely compressed, laterally 

 grooved, acute, that of the hind toe very long. Plumage long, loose, very 

 soft. Bristles obsolete. Wings of moderate length, very broad; the first 

 quill very short, the fourth and fifth longest. Tail long, graduated, of twelve 

 moderately stiff pointed feathers. 



