LUSCINID.E. 95 



Measurements of a male and a female : — 



Male. Female, 



in. lin. in. lin. 



Entire lencrtli 49 4G 



Length of folded wing ... 2 3 21 



„ tarsus 11 10 



„ middle toe .... 6 06 



„ tail 1 10 19 



„ bill 9 7^ 



[Mr. Or. R. Gray in his ' Hand-list of Birds/ No. 2864, and 

 Drs. Finscli and Hartlaiib in their work on the * Birds of East 

 Africa/ p. 241, unite this species with its more northern con- 

 gener C. brevicaudata (Riipp.). Notwithstanding the view 

 taken by these high authorities, I am disposed to follow Von 

 Heuglin {loc. cit.) and Blanford {' Geology and Zoology of 

 Abyssinia/ p. 377) in regarding these two nearly allied races as 

 perceptibly and specifically distinct. I am not aware that the 

 southern race has been figured. — Ed.] 



118. Dryodromas damarensis (Wahl.). Damara Dryodrome. 

 Eremomela damarensis, Wahlberg, Ofvers. 1855, p. 213. 



„ „ Wahlberg, in Journal fiii- Orn. 1857, p. 2. 



Dryodromas damarensis, Gray's Hand-list of Birds, No. 2861. 



„ ,, Finsch & Hartlaub's Vogel Ost-AMka's, 



p. 240. 

 „ Sharpe's Cat. No. 318. 



I only observed this diminutive species in one locality, 

 a place called Oosoop, on the lower course of the Swakop 

 River ; and even there it was very scarce, so that, though 

 very tame, I have hunted for it whole days unsuccessfully. 

 It is found in small families of from two to six indi- 

 viduals amongst the widely scattered dwarf vegetation ; 

 it hops slowly and systematically amongst the branches, 

 searching diligently for small insects, which constitute its 

 sole food, and uttering all the while a low but distinct 

 chir]). 



