430 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on Dr. von Hcuglin's 



highly complimented on the very careful and elaborate descrip- 

 tions he furnishes, thus rendering every assistance to the student 

 of these difficult Warblers. Hemipteryx habessinica, Heugl., is 

 probably the same as Cisticola ayresi, vi'hich is very doubtfully 

 distinct from the common C. schoenicola. It is rather a novel 

 idea to find Cetti's Warbler placed in the genus Bradypterus ; but 

 I believe that Mr. Tristram, our first authority on the Sylviidce 

 in this country, considers this its proper position. The Brady - 

 pteri, along with Phlexis, Potamodus, and some others, form a 

 very natural subdivision of the Warblers, and may all be classified 

 under the genus Bradypterus, the subdivisions being marked by 

 the subgenera, as above indicated. 



The author does not admit the distinctness of Aedon famili- 

 aris or A. minor from the common A. galactodes ; and in this he 

 is no doubt right. A. minor is probably not a good species, and 

 A. familiaris only a climatic form, the grey shades of plumage 

 being produced by the nature of the climate in the limited dis- 

 trict in which the race has yet been found. It is a pleasure to 

 find that many of the warblers will be figured ; and although 

 Dr. von Heuglin is evidently very well acquainted with this 

 group, every one will feel grateful for the additional assistance 

 of the plates to help us to understand these very puzzling little 

 birds. Acrocephalus arubicus is a new species from Arabia, allied 

 to A. stentorius, with which the author (J. f. 0. 1861, p. 194) 

 has before identified it. 



Dr. von Heuglin separates a Sylvia melanocephala minor from 

 the true S. melanocephala. He does not seem to have much faith 

 in it as a species ; for he does not give it a number of its own, but 

 he identifies it with S. bowmani, Tristr., which, however closely 

 allied, is a very distinct species, and one which has possibly 

 never fallen under the author's notice. Then, too, S. deserti- 

 cola, Tristr., is not the same as S. nana. If, as appears from the 

 book. Dr. von Heuglin considers S. crassirostris to be identical 

 with S. olivetorum, he is certainly wrong ; for the bill and tail of 

 the former present excellent specific characters. I do not quite 

 understand these birds being retained under Sylvia instead of 

 Hypolais, which genus is surely as distinct from the true Sylvia 

 as are Dryodromas, Finsch & Hartl., and Tricholais, Heugl., from 

 Eremomela. 



