HONE Y- CR REFERS, 
373 
The Honey-Creepers. 
Family CcEREBiDjE. 
These birds constitute a small group of some forty species. They are allied to 
the true warblers, so closely indeed, that some of the latter possess the deeply 
bifid, pencillate tongue, which was once supposed to be peculiar to the honey- 
creepers. Unlike the creepers of the Old World, the honey-creepers have soft- 
WEST INDIAN HONEY CREEPER OR BANANA-QUIT (i liat. size). 
feathered, squared tails. They are almost wholly confined to the tropical 
parts of South America, only a single species ranging as far north as Florida; 
but they are most numerously represented in the islands of the West Indian 
group. 
West Indian Among the various genera of the family, we select for notice the 
Honey-Creepers. West Indian honey-creepers, of which a species (Certhiola flavcold) is 
represented in our illustration. The members of this genus have the beak rather 
shorter than the head, stout at the base, but tapering rapidly to the extremely acute 
tip, and the whole bill much curved; the wings are long, but the tail is short and 
rounded. 
