Expedition to the Zambesi River. 85 



(measured in flesh) 655 inches, wing 3" 1. Iris hazel; bill 

 black ; legs and feet flesh-colour. 



103. CiCHLADUsA ARCUATA (Peters). 

 Near Senna, in bush-grown country. 



Adult ? . Iris straw-colour; bill black; legs and feet slate- 

 colour. Tliis bird must be uncommon^ since we never met 

 with it again after leaving Senna. 



104. CossYPHA NATALENsis (Smith). 



Where the preceding species is present C. natalenais 

 appears to be absent. 



This bird is decidedly rare along the Zambesi. Our 

 single specimen was obtained close to the moutii of the 

 Kafue river, in December, its sexual organs being in a 

 breeding condition. 



The mantle is largely washed with orange, and the wing- 

 coverts are a bright bluish grey. 



Total length (measured in flesh) Q'7 inches, wing 3*45. 

 Legs and feet brown. 



105. CossYPHA HEUGLiNi (Ilartl.). 



The scarcity of singing-birds in the Zambesi woods is 

 remarkable. There is, however_, a noteworthy exception, 

 that of this beautiful red Ground-Thrush, the song of which 

 seems to gain in intensity from the surrounding silence. In 

 the Zambesi region this species commences to breed towards 

 the end of December, the month when the first fall of rain 

 is generally experienced. The male bird is then in full 

 song, but at other times of the year the singing is reduced 

 to a short string of babbling notes. The song is rich and 

 mellow, the long-drawn opening notes increasing in volume, 

 suddenly to break off into a string of bubbling sounds that 

 turn the next moment to soft volubility, the voice being 

 raised in pitch till it becomes like a faint whisper, just as if 

 the singer was soliloquizing. 



This Cossypha frequents thick undergrowth, Avaste land 

 where there are bush-grown dells holding water or reed-beds 

 bordering the river. It is a shy bird and keeps much to the 

 bottom of the tangled brushwood, decoying the listener on 



