Hamhlitiij Notes on Binls. 101 



suspected its mate to he, I startled the hen-bird, which flew 

 up and settled near her mate. Dropping a handkerchief to 

 mark the s[)ot, I went after the pair and easily secured both. 

 Returning th^n to the handkerchief, I had very little 

 dithculty in finding the nest, which was half concealed in 

 a slight depression under some overhanging tufts of old 

 grass. The three fresh eggs it contained are pinkish (white 

 when blown), raih«er thickly marked with pale brown, and a 

 heavy ring of slate round the thickest part, and measure 

 20'7-20-9x 15-15-2 mm. 



In the course of these excursions I also turned my 

 nttention to the open veld frequenting Grass-Warblers, and 

 was able to uote several points of interest. The species 

 which I described in the Annals of the Transvaal Museum 

 for 1912 ([)ublication of which was delayed until January ©f 

 the following year), namely Ilemipteri/.c egrer/ia^ was found 

 to be very scarce and local, frequenting only the long grass 

 in the valleys and the borders of vleis. Two specimens 

 (both males) were secured, but one was so badly damaged 

 that I did not preserve it, thinking that I should be able to 

 get more later on. They were both exactly like the type, 

 llains were unusually late, and in consequence the grass was 

 delayed in growth, this making the nesting-season for the 

 birds later than on my previous visits, and I left before eggs 

 were laid. The call of the male is a metallic " klink, klink, 

 klink," which it utters when flj^ing about in loop-like jerks 

 above the vleis. This species belongs to the typical group 

 of the genus, building a peculiar nest with the entrance 

 facing skywards through the points of growing grass which 

 surround the chamber. I was in error, however, in my 

 recent paper on the genus in stating that members of this 

 genus soar to a great height, as the birds which do so appear 

 to belong to the genus Cisticola. 



This species does not rise much higher than 200 feet 

 from the ground, and does not renuiin for a great length 

 of time on the wing, being rather loss active than the 

 following smaller species recently placed in the genus. 

 IIe))i'q)teryx niinula was very common in the open, rolling 



