82 Mr. B. Alexander — Expedition 



The song of the male is, moreover, very different. The bird 

 commences with a confused chattering, not unlike that of 

 the Whitethroat, and this lasts for at least five or six 

 seconds ; then the bird bubbles into the mellow- noted song 

 of Sylvia atricapiUa. 



Adult male. Total length 5*84! inches, culmen 06, wing 

 2-8, tail 2-4, tarsus 0-8. 



Adult female. Total length 5*8 inches, culmen O'G, wing 

 2-8, tail 2-35, tarsus 0-81. 



This resident form is not common ; it was not until the 

 end of February that the influx of the migratory S. atricapiUa 

 took place. Five specimens were obtained. 



10. Calamocichla brevipennis (Dohrn). 

 Calamocichla brevipennis Sharpe, Cat. B. vii. p. 132. 

 We obtained a fine series of this Warbler. Though fully 

 described by Dohrn in 1871, it appears to have been over- 

 looked by Seebohm, and is not mentioned in his volume of 

 the Catalogue of Birds. One of the typical specimens was 

 presented to the British Museum by Dohrn in 1866. This 

 bird is placed among the Bradypteri by Dr. Sharpe, in a 

 new genus Calamocichla, which also includes the allied 

 form C. newtoni of Madagascar. Dr. Sharpe also overlooked 

 Dohrn's description, as will be seen from the footnote. 

 Typical examples of the genus Lusciniola, such as L. melano- 

 pogon and L, gracilirostris, are very closely allied to the 

 present species and to C. newtoni, but in both of these the 

 first primary is proportionately longer and more than half 

 the length of the second primary. The adult has the upper 

 parts a uniform dull greenish olive, not russet-brown ; the 

 underparts dull white ; and the sides and flanks are pale 

 brownish white, devoid of yellowish buff". Again, the scales 

 on the front of the tarsus are obsolete or absent, but in the 

 immature bird are well marked. 



It may be found necessary to unite Calamocichla with 

 Lusciniola. The bird described by Dr. Sharpe is immature 

 and not adult, the former having the upper parts russet- 

 brown, and the underparts, sides, and flanks yellowish bufi^. 



