CERTHIADiE. 
131 
afford one of the most ample proofs that could he ad- 
duced in favour of those principles of the natural system 
for which we contend. In our systematic arrangement 
the several groups will be so arranged, and we can only, 
in this place, glance at a few general features of the 
whole group. Nearly all the typical species are con- 
fined to that continent of forests. Tropical America ; hut 
the common English cree])er {Certhia familiaris L.) 
will give the student a very good idea of their general 
structure. The nuthatch, with its long pointed wings, 
shows us the fissirostral type ; while the true wren of 
our own climate exhibits that form which is the most 
aberrant. With the exception of these three generic 
types, and of Tichodroma, confined to the South of 
Europe, the remainder, eighteen, are exotic ; thirteen of 
which are exclusively confined to Tropical America. In 
this number we exclude the following genera, introduced 
among the Certhiadai by some authors, because, upon 
analysis, we find they belong to other groups, in which 
they merely represent the creepers : — 1 . Upupa, as 
being the scansorial type of Promeropn ; — 2. Orthotomu^, 
as being the same in the circle of the typical warblers 
{Sylmanrr) ; — and, .3. Mniutilta, from holding the 
same analogical station among the American SylvicoltB. 
(146.) The CEKTHiAHiK arrange themselves, with the 
above deductions, into the following subfamilies ; — 
1 • The Anabalirue, or redtails, where the tail, although 
somewhat rigid, is never acute, and the two outer toes 
are not united ; — 2. The CerthiarM", or typical creepers, 
fiaving the tail ending in sharp and often horny points ; 
both groups, with one exception, being confined to Tro- 
pical America ; — 3. The Buphiigincc, or ox-peckers, 
where the bill is short, thick, and the tail like the first 
division; — 4. The Trnglodytince, or wrens, having longer 
and more slender bills and toes ; — and, 5. The Sit- 
ting, or nuthatches, where the toes are enormously de- 
veloped for the size of the body, and the bill straight 
and somewhat wedged-shaped ; thus opening a passage 
fo the typical woodpeckers. 
