LUSCINID^. 95 



Measurements of a male and a female : 



Male. Female, 



in. lin. in. lin. 



Entire length 49 46 



Length of folded wing ...23 21 



tarsus 11 10 



middle toe ....06 06 



tail 1 10 19 



bill 09 7i 



[Mr. G. E. Gray in his ' Hand-list of Birds/ No. 2864, and 

 Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub in their work on the f Birds of East 

 Africa/ p. 241, unite this species with its more northern con- 

 gener C. brevicaudata (Riipp.). Notwithstanding the view 

 taken by these high authorities, I am disposed to follow Von 

 Heuglin (loc. cit.) and Blanford (' Geology and Zoology of 

 Abyssinia/ p. 377) in regarding these two nearly allied races as 

 perceptibly and specifically distinct. I am not aware that the 

 southern race has been figured. ED.] 



118. Dryodromas damarensis (Wahl.). Damara Dryodrome. 



Eremomela damarensis, Wahlberg, Ofvers. 1855, p. 213. 



Wahlberg, in Journal fur Orn. 1857, p. 2. 



Dryodromas damarensis, Gray's Hand-list of Birds, No. 2861. 



,, Finsch & Hartlaub's Vogel Ost-Afrika's, 



p. 240. 



Sharpe's Cat. No. 318. 



I only observed this diminutive species in one locality, 

 a place called Oosoop, on the lower course of the Swakop 

 River ; and even there it was very scarce, so that, though 

 very tame, I have hunted for it whole days unsuccessfully. 

 It is found in small families of from two to six indi- 

 viduals amongst the widely scattered dwarf vegetation ; 

 it hops slowly and systematically amongst the branches, 

 searching diligently for small insects, which constitute its 

 sole food, and uttering all the while a low but distinct 

 chirp. 



