DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVEN NEW AFRICAN GRASS- 

 WARBLERS OF THE GENUS CISTICOLA 

 By EDGAR A. MEARNS 



ASSOCIATE IN ZOOLOGY, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



This paper is the fifteenth dealing with the results of the Smith- 

 sonian African Expedition, under the direction of Col. Theodore 

 Roosevelt. It embraces descriptions of seven new species and sub- 

 species of birds, four of which were discovered by members of the 

 expedition. 



All of the measurements submitted in this paper are in millimeters ; 

 and the designation of colors conforms to Mr. Robert Ridgway's 

 " Nomenclature of Colors," 1886. 



CISTICOLA PRINIOIDES KILIMENSIS, new subspecies 



Mount Kilimanjaro Grass-Warbler 



Cisticola prinioides Oberholser, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 28, 1905, 



p. 902 ("Six specimens, from Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5,000, 6,000, and 8,000 



feet, April 3 to 11, i888.")--S.t5stedt, Wiss. Ergeb. Schwed. Zool. Exped. 



Kilimandjaro, III, Vogel, 1908, p. 149 (Kilimanjaro). 



Type-specimen.— K^vXt male. Cat. No. 1 18025, U. S. N. M. Col- 

 lected at Maranu, altitude of 5,000 feet, on Mount Kilimanjaro, 

 German East Africa, April 3, 1888, by Dr. W. L. Abbott. 



Characters. — Most closely related to Cisticola prinioides prini- 

 oides Neumann, from Mau, British East Africa, but differs in 

 having the upper parts less uniformly colored, and the under parts 

 darker, without a well-defined whitish area along the middle of the 

 abdomen. The russet crown is more distinctly spotted with dark 

 centers to the feathers. The mantle is grayer, with blacker centers 

 to the feathers. 



Measurements of type (adult male).— Length (of skin), 147; 

 wing, 58 ; tail, 69 ; culmen, 13 ; tarsus, 24. 



Material—Six specimens, collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott, on 

 Mount Kilimanjaro, at the altitudes of 5,000, 6,000, and 8,000 feet. 



Remarks.— This form may be distinguished from Cisticola prini- 

 oides nenmanni (Hartert), from Mount Kenia, British East Africa, 

 by its paler, more grayish, and more spotted upper parts ; and the 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections Vol. 56, No. 25 



