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LIST OF AN ORNITHOLOGICAL COLLECTION 



MADE BY DR. PERCY REXDALL ON THE UPPER SHIRI^ RIVER, 



NEAR FORT JOHNSTON, AND ON THE SHORES OF THE 



SOUTHERN PARTS OF LAKE NYASSA. 



Ry ERNST HARTEET. 



ALTHOUGH the coUectiou of which a list is liere given does not contain any 

 remarkable new species, only a closely allied suhsjiecifie form ])eing provided 

 by me with a new name, it will be of interest for the closer study of the geograpliical 

 distribution of African birds to see what Dr. Reudall found, and the very detailed 

 informations on all his labels will often be of value, as well as notes on nests and 

 eggs which he found, some of the latter not having been described before. 



1. Saxicola pileata Gm. 

 May and June, Upper Shir6 River. These specimens seem to me to be perfectly 

 like those from the Transvaal, Natal, and the Cape of Good Hope. 



2. Acrocephalus anmdinaceus (L.). 

 On March 3rd, Fort Johnston. 



3. Acroceplialus gracilirostris (Hartl.). 



March 2nd, Upper Shire River. " Iris dark brown; bill above horn-colonr, base 

 of mandible pinkish white, gape yellow ; feet dark steel-colour." 



The nest of this bird was found to be constructed like that of other Reed- 

 Warblers, hanging between three upright reed-halms. It consists of grasses, which 

 are finer inside than outside, and some of which have oven now — about nineteeu 

 months after it was taken — an aromatic smell. On one side a piece of a snake-skin 

 is woven into the nest. The egg resembles paler varieties of Acrocephalus streperus, 

 and if mixed with them wonld not easily be found out again. It is of the same 

 dimensions, greyish white, all over spotted with pale brown and olive-grey, these 

 spots forming a loose ring near the thick end. 



.1. gracilirostris is in my opinion a true Reed-Warbler, though its long first 

 primary would place it in the genus Lusciniola if that character alone were con- 

 sidered. I do not know whether ^4. gracilirostris is its oldest title. See Cat. B. 

 Brit. Mus. V. p. 122. 



4. Cichladusa arquata Peters. 



?. June, Upper Shir(i River. "Bill dull black; iris yellowish grey: tarsus 

 purplish grey, verging into brown on the feet, claws light horn-colour. Crops filled 

 with insects and a few seeds. Call-note very harsh and jarring." 



5. Cossypha heuglini Iliirtl. 

 tf ad. February, Fort Johnston. This specimen has the abdomen distinctly 

 lighter than a mule collected at Bagamoyo by Emin Pasha. 



