332 ZOOLOGY, 
Sub-fam. 2. Synallaxine, or Sharp-tailed Creepers. Bill rather short and 
strong ; frontal feathers rather rigid. Wings very short and rounded ; tail 
broad, more or less lengthened, and usually graduated or cuneated, with 
the tips of the feathers lanceolate. Tarsi and feet large and strong ; claws 
acute. 
Another sub-family of birds peculiar to South America and Mexico, and ~ 
which partake of the general characters of the last mentioned. They are 
generally plain colored little birds, somewhat resembling wrens in general 
appearance. 
Sub-fam. 3. Dendrocolaptine, or Long-billed Creepers. Bill usually long 
and curved, compressed; wings moderate, generally rounded ; tail long, 
broad, and graduated, with the feathers ending in hard points. Tarsi and 
feet strong ; claws large and acute. 
This sub-family is also essentially South American. About forty species 
are classed in it, which much resemble those of the two preceding sub- 
families, but differ from them in being larger and having longer bills. The 
greater part of the species inhabit the vast forests of South America, 
and appear to have somewhat the habits of woodpeckers. In one genus 
(Xiphorhynchus, or sword-bills) the bill is exceedingly long. The Cayenne 
creeper (Dendrocolaptes cayennensis) and the white-throated creeper (D. 
albicollis) are commonly met with. , 
Sub-fam. 4. Certhiane, or Creepers. Bill rather long, slender, curved ; 
wing rather long; tail lengthened, graduated, the feathers of which are 
slightly rigid. Tarsi and feet slender; claws moderate. Size small. 
Although not comprising more than a dozen species, the birds of this 
sub-family are found in all parts of the world. They are very active and 
shy little birds, subsisting upon minute insects, which nearly all the species 
search for in the crevices of the bark of trees, after the manner of wood- 
peckers. 
The Certhia familiaris, or the brown creeper (pl. 102, fig. 2), is fre- 
quently met with in the forests of Europe and North America. It much 
resembles, in general character, the small woodpeckers and nuthatches with 
which it constantly associates in the forest, though it is much smaller, 
being, next to the golden-crested wren, the smallest of European birds. In 
the United States it is not so common as in Europe. 
The rock creeper (C. muraria) of Europe also belongs here. It is 
found exclusively in the mountains of Europe and Asia, and is usually 
observed flitting from one projecting rock to another, in search of spiders 
and other insects, of which its food consists. 
One genus (Climacteris) of this sub-family is peculiar to Australia, the 
birds of which inhabit the woods and partake of the general characters of 
the others with which they are classified. 
Sub-fam. 5. Sitting, or Nuthatches. Bill rather short, very straight, 
more or less cylindrical; wings long and pointed; tail very short; tarsi 
and feet rather long and slender. Size small. 
The nuthatches, though numbering scarcely more than twenty species, 
are scattered over the whole world. Several species inhabit North America, 
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