11. CISTICOLA. 281 



outer feathers tipped with white ; crown of the head a little more 

 ashy fiilvous than the back, slightly rufescent on the forehead ; lores 

 and feathers round the eye yellowish white, extending above the 

 eye ; in front of the eye a dusky spot ; ear-coverts and cheeks yel- 

 lowish white, the former browner on their ujiper and hinder margins ; 

 throat and under surface of the body pale yellowish, the abdomen 

 a little whiter ; sides of the body and flanks washed with ashy ; 

 sides of the upper breast dark ashy grey ; thighs light tawny ; under 

 tail-coverts very pale tawny butf ; under wing-coverts very pale 

 tawny buff ; axillaries whiter ; quills light brown below, inner edges 

 rufescent. Total length 5-4 inches, culmen U"6, wing 2'35, tail 2-1, 

 tarsus 0"95. 



The specimen above described is an adult bird in full plumage 

 from the Gold Coast. 



Young. Much more yellow underneath than the adult and more 

 sandy coloured above, as the rump is sandy brown and the feathers 

 of the back are edged with sandy buff instead of ashj^ grey ; the 

 hind neck, too, is sandy ; the head is streaJced liJce the back, the centres 

 of the feathers being blackish brown, the edges sandy buff ; under- 

 neath, the yellow tinge is very strong. 



The head even iji fully adult birds is often slightly mottled with 

 dusky ; but beyond the fact that the young bird is decidedh/ streaked 

 on the crown, I have not been able to establish that the uniform 

 head is a sign of old age alone, as specimens undoubtedly adult are 

 found both with perfectly uniform as well as with slightly mottled 

 heads ; the latter may, however, be in winter plumage. The colour 

 of the crown also varies from ashy brown to j)ale fulvous or even 

 rufous-brown ; and even C. ampMlecta of Reichenow, the type of 

 which has been kindly lent to me by Dr. Peters, seems to me to be 

 only a more than usually rufous example of C. ncevia. The sides 

 of face, rump, and especially the lower tail-coverts are very rufous, 

 but the latter are approached in tint by some of the specimens in 

 the British Museum. 



The specimen of C. hic/uhris lent to me by Dr. Krauss, from the 

 Stuttgardt Museum, is undoubtedly the same as the West-African 

 C. ncevia. It is either a young or winter-] dum aged specimen. 



The East-African bird seems to me to be inseparable from the 

 true C. ncevia. The type of C'inticola isodact>/la, Peters, kindly lent 

 me by the original describer, is very similar to "West-African speci- 

 mens, but has the crown of head nearly uniform rufous, forming a 

 distinct cap. This is not always strongly defined in "West-African 

 birds, which often have the nape of the same colour as the hind 

 neck. Total length 4-6 inches, culmen 0-5o, wing 2-05, tail 1-9, 

 tarsus 0"1). 



A female (Mombasa ; Dr. Fischer) measures : — Total length 4-.5 

 incliCi. culmen 0-55, wing 1'95, tail 1-65, tarsus O-So. 



In South Africa the colours are somewhat paler ; but the species 

 usually known as C. fidvifrons cannot be specifically separated from 

 C. Ingubris. It is perfectly identical with C. isodactijJa of Peters. 



An adult female from S.E. Africa has the head pale rufous, inclining 



