1 G Hon. N. C. Rothschild and Mr. A. F. 11. Wollastou 



36. CisTicoLA cisTicoLA (Tcmm.). 



22 c?, 29 c?, 176 c?. ^77^, 185 c?, 181 ?, 302 ?, 

 429(?). 



Tlicse little birds were exceedingly common in the grassy 

 plain above mentioned and were never seen in the desert. 

 They have a habit of rising' almost vertically abont thirty or 

 forty feet into the air^ singing their qnaint little chattering 

 songj and then dropping suddenly, as if dead, into the long 

 grass. 



A nest containing three young birds was found on 

 March 4th. 



37. CisTicoLA AKiDULA. (Plate I. fig. 1.) 

 Cisticola arldula Witherby, Ibis^ 1901, p. 256. 

 370 (sex ?). 



This bird agrees perfectly with the type of C. arldula, 

 which Mr. Witherby has kindly sent us for comparison. The 

 subterminal black bars on the rectrices are not altogether 

 absent in the type specimen ; but they are not so sharply 

 defined as in C. cisticola, owing to the fact that the basal 

 portion is much darker in C. aridula than in C cisticola. 

 In our Shendi specimen the black subterminal bars arc 

 rather more distinct than in Mr. AVitherby's example. 



The wing measures 47, the tail about 38 mm. 



In addition to the other characters described by Mr. Wi- 

 therby, this bird differs from C. cisticola in the entirely 

 white outer web of the outermost tail-feather; in this feature 

 it agrees with C. hindii. 



Our solitary specimen of this species was obtained on 

 March 16th on the west bank of the Nile. It was found 

 among the rank " halfa-grass " so much frequented by 

 G. cisticola, and, when fiying, was seen to be noticeably 

 paler than that species ; but in other respects we are unable 

 to say anything about its habits. 



38. BuRNEsiA GRACILIS (Crctzscli.) . 



179 c?,32 c?,112 c?,201 c?;48 ? , 205 ?. 



This little bird was common in the scrub on both sides of 

 the river. It was always to be seen in pairs, and began to 

 breed abont tlu> end of Fcbrnary. Nests were found on 



