11. CISTICOLA. 277 



Di-ymoeca fortirostris, Hartl. Orn. W.-Afr. p. 56 (1857) ; id. J. f. O. 



18G1, p. 110; Shelley if Buckley, Ibis,'lS72, pp. 267, 291 ; Beu/ien. 



J. f. O. 1875, p. 45. 

 Drymceca \alida, Heui/l. J. f. 0. 1864, p. 258 (nee Blyth, nee Peters 



MSS.). > ■ J >f J > 



Drymceca pach\Thyncba, Heiir/l. Ibis, 1869, p. 1-30. 



Cisticola pachyrhyncha, Hem/l. Ibis, 1869, p. 143 ; id. Orn. N.O.-Afr. 



p. 262, tab. yii. (1869) ; id. op. eit. iy. p. Lxxy (1871). 

 Drymoica pachyrliyncha, Gray, Haml-l. B. i. p. 199, no. 2773 (1869). 

 Dryinoica yalida. Gray, t. c. p. 200, no. 2802 ( 1869). 

 Drymoica sh-aogeri, Gray, f. c. p. 198, no. 2755 (1869). 

 Cisticola strangei, Shar2)e Sf Bouvier, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, i. p. 306 



(1876). 

 Cisticola fortirostris, Cab. J.f. O. 1878, p. 222. 



General colour above dusky brown, witb ashy margins to the 

 feathers of the back ; lower back and rump more uniform ashy ; 

 wing-coverts like the back ; median and greater coverts and bastard- 

 wing feathers with ashy-fulvous margins: primaiy-coverts dusky 

 brown, narrowly edged with ashy fulvous : quills dark brown, with 

 ash}--fulvous margins to the secondaries, more rufous on the pri- 

 maries ; upper tail-coverts dark brown, margined with ashy ; tail- 

 feathers brown, with white shafts, margins more ashy, 'all the 

 feathers tipped with ashy whitish, before which is a broad bar of 

 black ; crown of head like the back ; lores huffy whitish, extending 

 over the eye and forming a short eyebrow; feathers round the eye, 

 ear-coverts, and cheeks huffy whitish, the upper and hinder edge of 

 the ear-coverts brown ; throat and under surface of the body yel- 

 lowish white ; sides of body and flanks a little more ashy fulvous ; 

 thighs very pale tawny buff; under taU-coverts clear " yellowish 

 white ; under ^ving-poverts and axillaries pale yellowish buff; quills 

 below ashy brown, inner edges light tawny rufous. Total length 

 b-o inches, culmen 0-6, wing 2-7, tail 2-2, tarsus 1. 



This species has a very distinct winter plumage, which is very 

 different from the dark phase described. It is .sandy rufous washed 

 with ashy, %vith very broad central streaks of black to all the feathers 

 of the upper surface, including the head. That the youmj bird 

 also commences its plumage in this tawnv phase seems to be 

 certain. 



The type of Drymceca strangei in the liritish Museum is D. forti- 

 rostris of Jardiue, and it agrees with Eraser's short description ; but 

 the measurements are surely wrong as regards the wing, 4^ inches, 

 nearly equal to the entire length of the bird ; in reality the wing 

 measures 2-55 inches, so that there must be a misprint of a 4 

 for a 2. 



The t}pe of Cisticola pachyrhyncha of Heuglin having been kindly 

 forwarded to me by Dr. Krauss, from the Stuttgardt Museum, I 

 have no hesitation in uniting it with C. strangei, of which it is a 

 specimen in breeding-plumage. Total length 5 inches, culmen 0-5.5, 

 wing 2-6.5, tail 2, tarsus 1 •()>). 



Hah. West Africa, from the Gold Coast to the Congo. 



