200 REV. ROBERT GODFREY 



which becomes at times a sharper and bolder pweep, and 

 corresponds to the iceep of the Xeddiky. 1 have not had 

 in til is species a favourable opportunity for noting the 

 period of its cries. 



Nesting continues from the latter part of November to 

 the end of [March. The earliest eggs, in which incubation 

 had begun, were brought in at Pirie on December 6; and 

 the latest, on the point of hatching, on March 23. The 

 nest, a loose ball with a circular opening near the top, 

 is constructed externally of dry blades of plants, up to 

 eleven millimetres broad; Avithin this loose outer shell is 

 a more compact portion formed in different cases of the 

 fine flowering heads of Galopina . yyivj plant stems, 

 slender lichens, with a few broad blades of grass. The 

 lining is a compact layer of beautiful white vegetable 

 down. 



The eggs, three or four in number, are faint bluish- 

 white or greenish-blue, dotted all over with dark-browTi 

 spots of varying hue, most thickly a't the larger end 

 where some violet blotches may be present and where the 

 markings sometimes tend to form a zone. They measure 

 17 X 13 mm. 



CisticoJa terrestris (A. Smith) — The Wren Grass- 

 warbler — was first obtained in our area by Trevelyan^ 

 and recorded by Sharpe as CisticoJa cur8itan>) In Sep- 

 tember, 1908, Pym obtained a specimen at Breidbach, 

 near King Williamstown. In spite of long and careful 

 watching, I failed to discover with certainty any hainit 

 near Pirie, and I never handled a specimen during my 

 stay there. 



CisticoJa nataJcnsis (A. Smith) — The Natal Grass- 

 w^arbler — reaches the southern limit of its range in the 

 Buffalo Basin. A young bird, fledged, was brought by 

 a boy on 19 December, 1911, and, as it completely puzzled 

 me, it was forwarded to the Transvaal Museum and there 

 Identified. This is the only known local record, yet it 

 is sufficient to show us that this species was nesting that 

 year at Pirie. All my endeavours to find the haunt of 

 this grass-warbler were in vain. 



