152 Mr. T. Ay res on Trans- Vaal Ornithology. 



of Asia, and C. schmnicola of Southern Europe and Northern 

 Africa, as well as to C. ayresi of Natal, if, indeed, these be all 

 really distinct species, on which subject the article of Drs. Finsch 

 and Hartlaub in their work on the Birds of East Africa, under 

 the head of Cisticola cursitans, p. 229, may be advantageously 

 consulted. The following measurements of Cisiicolce, giving the 

 length of the tarsus and of the wing from the carpal joint to 

 the tip, will show how slight is the variation in size between 

 these closely allied races. 



Wing. Tarsus. 



inclies. inch. 



Cisticola terrestris, Daraara Land . . 2 ii 



Trans-Vaal. • • l|f if 



„ cursitans, India .... 2 \^ 



„ „ Syria . . . . 2-fV |f 



„ „ Constantinople . 2-n^ \^ 



„ schoenicola, Italy .... Iff jf 



Egypt . . . . IH H 



„ ayresi, Natal . . . . l|f \^ 



J. H. G.] 



84. (L. 148.) Aedon fasciglata (Smith). Fasciolated 

 Aedon. 



Total length 5;^ inches in the male, 4| in the female; iris 

 dark. 



These birds feed upon small insects. They inhabit low bush 

 and scrub ; when disturbed they invariably fly and settle close 

 to or on the stems of the bushes, and then work their way up. 

 They appear to be solitary in their habits. In the living bird 

 the speckled wings are more conspicuous than the barred breast. 



[Sir A. Smith, who first described and figured this species 

 and its near congener, A. subcinnamomea, in his 'Illustrations of 

 the Zoology of South Africa'' {Aves, pi. Ill), refers both to the 

 genus Drymoeca, but says of the latter that " it is to be viewed 

 as an aberrant form " of that genus. I am much disposed to 

 think that these two species should be formed into a separate 

 genus by them.selves ; but as the multiplication of genera ought, 

 where possible, to be avoided, I refer them to the genus Aedon, 



