Expedition to the White Nile. 255 



Iris brown; bill black above, horn-colour below; legs and 

 feet dull flesh-colour. 



39. SyLVIELLA BR.A.CHYUK.A. 



Sylvietta brachrjura Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 258. 



Sylviella micrura Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. vii. p. 154 

 (1883) (specimens a, b, c). 



Sylviella brachijura Grant, Ibis, 1900, p. 155. 



My specimens agree perfectly with the western form as 

 separated by Mr. Ogilvie Grant (Ibis, 1900, p. 155) under 

 the name of S. hrachyura. The throat and eyebrows in this 

 form are rust-coloured, while in its more eastern repre- 

 sentative, /S'. micrara^ those parts are whitish. 



We only found this species at three camps, viz. Dueai, 

 Shebesha, and Gerazi ; at none of these places was it at all 

 common. Both in habits and note it reminded me very 

 much of our Nuthatch. The call-note is, in fact, a very 

 weak reproduction of that of the bird mentioned. Although 

 I never saw it climb up the trunk of a tree, it was always to 

 be found running about the boughs and twigs, and often 

 hanging on the underside of a branch, in its diligent search 

 for insects. The general colour and the short tail no doubt 

 add somewhat to its superficial likeness to a Nuthatch, 

 although a miniature copy. 



Iris hazel ; bill dark brown ; legs and feet light brown. 



40. Spiloptila CLAMANs (Temm.). 



Spiloptila damans, Sliarpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. vii. p. 231. 



These beautiful little birds were met with at three of our 

 camping-places, viz. Shebesha, Gerazi, and Jebel Auli. They 

 were in little parties of five or six, and first attracted my 

 attention by their low sweet call-notes, which immediately 

 arrest the listener by their purity and extreme delicacy. They 

 have also a pretty little warbling song, which requires a 

 near hearing and perfect silence to be fully appreciated. 

 Low thick thorn-bushes at the edge of the desert seemed to be 

 their favourite hunting-ground, but they also frequented the 

 acacias on the outskirts of the woods, and were sometimes to 

 be seen hopping about on the sand. They are seldom at 

 rest, and are continually jerking their tails from side to side. 



