102 Mr. Austin Roberts : Some 



grass-vekl. The male rises to a great height, usually 

 starting its notes when about 50 feet from the ground, 

 the notes becoming clearer the higher the bird rises, until 

 it remains hovering, often quite out of one's sight in the 

 glaring light. The notes may be likened to two clicks 

 followed by '• hihihi, hihihi, hihihi,^^ only the last part of 

 which reaches the ear when the bird is a long way off. 

 The males seemed always to be in the air overhead^ for a 

 female was seldom flushed at this time without its mate 

 coming down uttering some angry clicking notes and either 

 driving it to shelter or perching on a tall grass stem near 

 at hand. No nests were found, and I think they would 

 have been made at the end of January or in February. 



Cisticola terreslr'is was found on the border of the vleis, 

 and a nest with a single egg was found about the 7th ; but 

 when I visited it a few days later to secure the birds I found 

 that it was deserted. 



On my return to Pretoria I set to work in my spare time 



to make a study of the local species, but encountered so many 



difficulties that not much resulted, considering the labour 



expended. At the " Fountains "" I found a nest and saw the 



birds of a species belonging to the true Ilemxpterijx group ; 



but the nest was in the course of construction when found, 



and a hailstorm passing over the spot seemed to have scared 



the birds, as I did not see them again. Here I also secured 



s))ecimens of //. m'uiida^ confirming my former identification 



of specimens in winter-plumage. The colour is not quite the 



same on the head of a male secured as in other specimens 



from the Drakensberg range and Zoutpansberg ; but it is 



difficult to say whether this is not due to a difference in age, 



and more specimens are required to judge by. In any case 



the difference can hardly be more than a local one. A 



specimen of Cisticola terresUis was shot when sitting on 



the top of a thorn bush ; just before this I had noticed it 



hovering in the air and trying to imitate the call of the 



true IJemipteryx, uttering a weak "kliiik^' now and then, 



A sjiecimen of Cisfievia /((roidiihr was shot after it had 



