Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/475

Rh The young are coloured like the adult but have signs of cross-bars on the lower plumage, especially on the sides of the breast and flanks, and are somewhat paler and duller.

In Certhia the bill is as long, or nearly as long, as the head, slender and curved downwards. The nostrils are long, narrow slits. The tarsus is scutellated and the toes and claws are extremely long.



The wing is rounded, the first primary being about half the length of the second, and the third a little shorter than the second. The tail and wing about equal in length and the former is composed of twelve very stiff pointed feathers and greatly graduated.

Certhia himalayana is represented in India by four well-marked races, and is found from Baluchistan and Afghanistan to Yunnan and the Shan States. It is easily distinguished from all other forms of Tree-Creeper by its boldly barred tail.