272 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
by Sir Andrew Smith, Drymoica ruficapilla, but as this name had 
already been applied by Mr. Fraser, the late Prince Bonaparte pro- 
posed to call the bird Drymoica smithii after its discoverer. We 
find, however, from an examination of the types that C. smithii is 
only the female of C. aberrans, and consequently this name must 
stand. Most of the specimens which we have seen have been from 
Natal, where Captain Shelley records it as “not uncommon near 
Durban.” Mr. T. L. Ayres has likewise sent several specimens from 
Pinetown, and his father, Mr. Thomas Ayres, writes as follows :— 
“These warblers are generally found amongst the high grass, which 
forms a dense cover on the edges of the woods. When disturbed, 
they flit and hop about the twigs and boughs of the adjacent bushes, 
uttering at the same time a weeping note, which much resembles the 
distant bleating of a goat; they seem to be particularly fond of the 
eggs of moths and small insects. Their flight is but weak.” It 
also occurs in the Transvaal, and we are indebted to Dr. Exton for a 
specimen procured near Potchefstroom, in July, 1876. In this part 
of the country, Mr. Thomas Ayres states that the species inhabits 
low scrub. Mr. Andersson says that according to his experience it is 
not an inhabitant of either Great Namaqua or Damara Land. He 
first became acquainted with it on penetrating to the Okavango, but 
even there he does not remember to have seen much of it. All the 
specimens which have fallen under our notice from Mr. Andersson’s 
collections were obtained at Elephant Vley, in September and 
October, 1859. 
We give a detailed description of the typical specimen in the 
British Museum. 
Adult in breeding plumage.—Above nearly uniform brown, slightly 
washed with dull ochraceous and having obsolete darker centres to 
the feathers; rump and upper tail-coverts uniform dull ochraceous 
brown; least wing-coverts coloured like the back, the rest dark 
brown, externally margined with dull sandy rufous, paler towards 
the tips of the greater series; quills dark brown, externally edged 
with sandy rufous, lighter and more fulyous on the secondaries ; 
tail nearly uniform brown, with a few indications of wavy bars in 
certain lights, the feathers rather paler at tips but without subter- 
minal bars; head uniform chestnut; lores and a distinct eyebrow 
yellowish white ; ear coverts browner than the rest of the side face, 
the shaft-lines whitish; cheeks, throat, and under parts generally 
yellowish or yellowish white, deeper on the abdomen, the sides of 
