Mr. Layard's ' Birds of South Africa.' 157 



Calamoherpe strepera (Vieill.). Lesser Reed-Warbler. 



The only South- African specimen of the Lesser Reed- Warbler 

 which has come under my notice was sent from Natal, and 

 differs from English examples in its shorter primaries and some- 

 what more rounded tail, as noted in 'The Ibis' (1865, p. 266), 

 where I have mentioned this specimen under the name of C. 

 arundinacea, which, however, is properly applicable to the 

 Greater Reed- Warbler {Sijlvia turdoides, Meyer). 



It would be interesting to ascertain whether other South Afri- 

 can examples of this Warbler present a similar deviation from 

 the European type. 



179. Camaroptera natalensis, Hartl. Natal Camaroptera. 



The British Museum possesses an example of this bird, ob- 

 tained in Natal, which differs singularly from the usual colora- 

 tion of the species, its plumage being of a uniform but very 

 pale fawn-colour, except on the upper part of the head, where it 

 is of a somewhat darker fawn than elsewhere. 



196. THAMNOL^AALBiscAPULATA(Riipp.). Whitc-shouldered 

 Chat. See below, under no. 208. 



207. Pratincola pastor, Strickl. South-African Stonechat. 

 I have much doubt as to whether this Stonechat is specifically 



distinct from the European race, from which it appears to me 

 to differ only in the purer black of the head, neck, and back of 

 the male, caused by the absence of the minute brown tips and 

 margins which occur on the feathers of those parts in European 

 specimens. I have treated the two races as identical in my list 

 of Natal birds (Ibis, 1860, p. 208). 



208. Thamnobia ptymatura (Vieill.) . 



I have to thank Mr. Layard for pointing out a mistake which 

 I made (Ibis, 1863, p. 328) in admitting the name of this spe- 

 cies into my list of Natal birds. The specimen which I had 

 before me at the time appeared to agree with the first figure of 

 Le Vaillant's plate (no. 188) ; but by an unfortunate error I 

 appended to it the name of the species represented in the second 

 figure of the same plate, and thus included it in my list under 

 the name of Thamnobia ptymatura instead of under that of Tham- 



