CREEPER. 249 



42.— CAPE CREEPER. 



Certhia Capensis, Ind.Orn.i. 284. Lin. i. 185. Gm. Lin. i, .473. 



' Capitis bonae Spei, Bris. iii. G18. t. 31. 1. Id. Svo. ii. p. 6. 



Soui-manga a Collier a jeune Age, Ois. dor. ii. 34. pi. 14. 

 Cape Creeper, Gen. Syn. ii. 711. 



SIZE of a Wren ; length four inches, two lines. Bill three 

 quarters of an inch, blackish ; head, neck, and body grey-brown, 

 paler beneath ; greater wing coverts grey-brown ; tail blackish, the 

 feathers edged with grey-brown, but the outer one with whitish ; 

 legs black. 



Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, and thought to be the female 

 of the Collared Species, This sex is said, by some, to differ from the 

 male, merely in having yellow spots on the sides : others give the 

 female a red band like the male, but placed lower on the breast, and 

 the colours in general less lively. 



A. — Le Figuier crombec, Levail. Afr. iii. 145. pi. 135. f. 1. 2. 



This seems a Variety. Bill brown, irides hazel ; upper parts of 

 the head, neck behind, wings, and tail grey-brown ; under parts pale 

 dusky rufous, deeper on the belly, and beneath the tail ; legs pale 

 rufous : some individuals have the wings and tail almost white. 



M. Levaillant, supposing this a distinct species, says that both 

 sexes are alike, except that the bill in this is rather shorter. The 

 nest never met with. The bird is common on the river of Elephants, 

 also on the borders of the green and great rivers, on the Mimosa trees. 

 Its only note is Tic tic, frequently repeated. The male and female 

 keep together for the most part. It is said that the tongue is short 



▼ OL. IV. K K 



