9 
ACROCEPHALUS FULVOLATERALIS. 289 
the brown edgings to the gular feathers cause a distinctly spotted 
appearance, and it can hardly be said of them, “macule nulle 
gutturis.”’ Then again Captain Shelley has lent us a skin from 
Durban which has the throat uniform, and the edgings very dis- 
tinctly indicated on the under tail-coverts. This may be a young 
B. barratti, and it remains to be proved whether B. sylvaticus is the 
young bird of the last-named species, in which case Sundevall’s 
name will have precedence. No mention is made in the description 
of the narrow white shaft-lines on the ear-coverts, which are seen in 
B. barratti, and it is probable that an examination of the type will 
be necessary before the question can be solved. 
Adult male—Above entirely obscure dusky brown with an obso- 
lete shade of rufous; underneath paler, the throat and the middle of 
the belly dull white; the sides of the body and of the head a little 
paler than the back; the feathers of the vent dusky with a paler 
tip; wings and tail uniform with the back; bill dusky, underneath 
pale; feet pale; no spots on the throat. Total length, about 5°5 
inches ; wing, 2°4; tail, 2°3; tarsus, 0°8 (Swndevall). 
273. ACROCEPHALUS FULVOLATERALIS; Sharpe. 
Tawny-sided Reed-Warbler. 
For many years the editor had in his collection the skin of a 
large Reed-Warbler from Natal, which he has shown to Dr. Finsch 
and other authorities on African birds, though at present without 
being able to obtain any clue to its identification. It is a true 
Acrocephalus with small attenuated first primary, but it differs from 
A. stentorius in its thicker and shorter bill, and much larger size. 
From A. arundinaceus and A. orientalis it equally differs in the want 
of any olive shade of colour on the upper surface, and by having 
such very distinct orange tawny flanks. Whether it will ultimately 
prove to be a described species time alone will show, but at present it 
is interesting to record such a large Acrocephalus as inhabiting South 
Africa. Our friend Dr. Finsch suggests that it may be Calamoherpe 
caffra of Lichstenstein (Nomencl. p. 29), a species of which no de- 
scription is extant. Our type is in the British Museum. 
Adult.—General colour above fulvous brown, a little darker on the 
head and inclining to rather clearer fulvous on the rump and upper 
__ tail-coverts; wings dark brown, the feathers margined with fulvous 
brown like the back, the quills externally edged with ashy brown, 
U 
