2. PRINIA. 191 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but smaller. Total length 

 4-7 inches, culmen 0-5, wing 1-95, tail 2-2, tarsus 0"85. 



Ohs. The description is taken from a pair of birds in Captain 

 Shelley's collection, obtained bj' Mr. T. L. Ayres near Pinetown, 

 Natal, on the 19th of January, 1875. The female had the soft 

 parts coloured as in the male, and both appear to have been breed- 

 ing, from the worn plumage. 



Birds shot in Juno 1870 near Eland's Post by Mr. T. C. Atmore, 

 and apparently in full winter plumage, are of a warmer brown above, 

 with clearer tawny coloui- on the flanks. 



Young birds have much broader streaks of black on the breast, 

 and have the cheeks and sides of face also minutely streaked with 

 black. The tail in the winter plumage of the young seems also 

 longer than in the breeding-dress, owing somewhat to the less worn 

 appearance of the tail. A male measures : — Total length 6 inches, 

 culmen 0'5, wing 2'05, tail 3'5, tarsus 0-9. 



I was at one time inclined to think that this species might turn out 

 to be only the winter plumage of P. maculosa or P. suhstriata ; but 

 after seeing the series in the British Museum and in Capt. Shelley's 

 collection, I think there can be no doubt of its being quite distinct 

 from either of the above birds, and it must be considered an eastern 

 representative of P. maculosa. 



A young female killed by Major Butler near Newcastle, on the 

 9th of June 1881, is evidently in its first and newly-moulted winter 

 plumage. It has broader streaks on the breast, but is especially 

 remarkal:)lc for the ruddy tinge on the flanks and underparts, for 

 the warmer brown of the upper surface, and for the distinct sub- 

 terminal dark spots on the tail, which measures 8-4 inches. 



Hab. lleplaces P. macidosa in S.E. Africa from the neighbour- 

 hood of Grahamstown into Natal and the Transvaal. 



a. (S ad. sk. Eland's Post, June 1870 R. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



{T. C. Atmore). (Type of species.) 



b, c. 2 ^^- **1^- Eland's Post, June 1870 E. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



(T. C. Atmore). 



d. Ad. sk. Kingwilliamstowu. Capt. H. Trevelyan [P.]. 



e. cJ ad. sk. Kingwilliamstown, JimeS, Capt. H. Trevelyan [P.]. 



1877 ( C Newby). 



f. 2 ad. sk. Natal. Eytou Collection. 



g. h. ■S 2 sk. Macamac,Dec. 9, 1874 J. H. Gurney, Esq. [P.]. 



(7'. L. Ayres). 



5. Prinia mystacea. 



Priiiia mystacea, Rupp. Neue Wirhelth. Vof/. p. 110 (1835-40). 

 Drvmoica supevciliosa, Sioains. B. TF. Afr. i. p. 40, pi. 2 (1837); 



Grai/, Gen. B. i. p. 163 (1848); Bp. Consj). i. p. 282 (1850); Gray, 



Haml-l. B. i. p. 199, no. 2785 (1869). 

 Drvmoica alliuis, Smith, III. Zool. S. Afr., Aves, pi. 77. fig. 1 (1843) ; 



Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 1G3 (1848) ; 'Bp. Consp. i. p. 283 (18.50) ; 



Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 89 (1867) ; Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 198, no. 2740 



(1869) ; Gurney, in Anderss. B, Dam. Ld. p. 183 (1872) ; Bocage, 



Orn. Angola, p. 552 (1881). 



