Family IX. CERTHIANIE. CREEPERS.
GENUS II. TROGLODYTES, Cuv. WREN

Bill of moderate length, or nearly as long as the head, slender, slightly arched, much compressed toward the end; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly convex, the edges a little inflected toward the end, the notches slight, the tip rather acute; lower mandible with the angle rather long and narrow, the outline slightly decurved, the sides erect and convex, the edges inclinate, the tip acute. Nostrils oblong, operculate, exposed. Head oblong; neck short; body slender. Feet of ordinary length, rather strong; tarsus longer than the middle toe, compressed, with eight anterior distinct scutella; toes of moderate size, the third and fourth united at the base, the first very large, the lateral nearly equal; claws rather long, moderately arched, much compressed, very acute. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles obsolete. Wings of moderate length, or short, convex, much rounded; the first quill very small, the fourth and fifth longest. Tail rather short, rounded, of twelve slightly arched, weak, rounded feathers.