11. CISTICOLA. 285 



margined all round with ashy grey ; tail rufous-brown, margined 

 ■with fulvous, tipped Avith dull white or rufous, before which is a 

 distinct bar of black on all except the two centre feathers ; lores 

 and a narrow eyebrow dull white ; round the eye a tiny ring of 

 buff feathers ; sides of face dull white, browner on the ear-coverts ; 

 entire under surface of body dirty white, the sides of the body and 

 under tail-coverts ashy brown, the breast with a few small spots of 

 brown ; thighs tawny buff ; under wing-coverts buffy white, the 

 lower surface of the wing broadly edged with rufous along the inner 

 web. Total length 5 inches, culmen 0-5, wing 2-05, tail 2-2, 

 tarsus 0*7. 



The bird above described is a male in breeding-plumage (=C. 

 subriificapilla of Smith). The head in the breeding-dress appears to 

 have always some blackish streaks on the crown. 



At present I have not seen an example, the female sex of which 

 has been ascertained by dissection in the breeding-season. 



The yowig bird is browner than the adult, without the grey 

 mantle, and is always very distinctly and broadly streaked with 

 dark brown ; the under surface is yellowish, with triangular spots 

 of dusky on the breast, inclining to linear streaks on the flanks. 

 After its first moult the male bird loses the spots on the breast, and 

 is more of a yellowish-buff colour underneath, and has a more di- 

 stinct rufous forehead ; the female after the first moult, however, 

 appears not to lose the streaks on the breast so soon as the male, 

 and is much more thickly and distinctly streaked with black above. 

 The advlts in full winter plumage (:=C. isoclaetyla, Sharpe, nee 

 Peters) are more reddish brown above, with the streaks less strongly 

 pronounced ; the head is nearly uniform rufous, the eyebrow f'ul- 

 vesccnt, and the underparts strongly washed with fulvous. 



Adult female in winter plumage. General colour above fulvous- 

 brown, almost tawny, -n ith indistinct mesial streaks of darker brown 

 on the back and scapulars ; the upper tail-coverts and rump uniform; 

 crown uniform tawny rufous, shading off into the brown of the 

 back ; outer scapulars and least wing-coverts shaded with grey, the 

 centres of the feathers dark brown, the greater series and primary- 

 coverts dark brown, bi'oadly edged with fulvous ; quills dark brown, 

 externally margined with rufous, the inner secondaries edged all 

 round with fulvous ; tail rufous-brown, fulvous at tip, with a sub- 

 terminal bar of black, very distinct on all excepting the two centre 

 feathers, where it is only obscurely indicated ; lores and a faint line 

 above the eye yellowish white ; round the eye a circlet of buff ; 

 cheeks and sides of face yellowish white ; the ear-coverts marked 

 with brown, especially on the hinder margin ; imder surface of body 

 pale tawny yellow, deeper on the flanks, the sides of the upper breast 

 washed with ashy brown : the throat and centre of the belly whitish ; 

 thighs bright tawny ; under wing-coverts pale tawny, the lower 

 series ashy brown at tip ; the lower surface of the quills brown, 

 margined with rufous along the inner web ; bill (in skin) horn-brown, 

 the lower mandible yellowish ; feet deep yellow in skin. Total 

 length 4-7 inches, culmen 0*55, wing 2-1, tail 2-] 5, tarsus 0-85. 



