CISTICOLA. 373 



coverts dark brown, edged with fulvous ; ear-coverts brown with 

 pale shafts ; sides of the head and the whole lower plumage pule 

 fulvous. 



Bill fleshy brown ; legs fleshy yellow ; iris buff (Jerdon). 



AVing 1*8 ; tarsus *7 ; bill from gape *5 ; in summer both sexes 

 measure about 4 in length, and the tail is 1*2; in winter the 

 length of both sexes is about 4-5, and that of the tail 1/9. 



Distribution. The base of the Himalayas from the Bhutan Doars 

 to Dibrugarh and Sacliya ; the Khasi hills; Dacca; Manipur and 

 Bhamo. 



380. Cisticola volitans. The Golden-headed Fantail- Warbler. 



Calamanthella volitans, Switiji. Journ. N. China As. Soc. 1859, p. 226. 

 Cisticola volitans (Sivinh.), Oates, S. F. x, p. 219 ; Oates in Hume's 



N. $ E. 2nd ed. i, p. 236. 

 Cisticola exilis, Vig. $ Horsf., Oates, B. B. i, p. 117 j Sharpe, Cat. 



B. M. vii, p. 269 (part.). 



Coloration. Male. In summer the forehead, crown, and nape are 

 golden yellow; the hind neck duller, tinged with brown, and sepa- 

 rated from the nape by a dusky band ; back ashy, streaked with black ; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts fulvous-yellow ; tail black, tipped with 

 dull white ; wings and coverts dark brown, edged with fulvous ; 

 sides of the head and the whole lower plumage pale fulvous or 

 yellowish buff ; the abdomen whitish. 



Female. In summer resembles the male in summer, but the 

 forehead and crown are dusky golden yellow streaked with dark 

 brown ; the hind neck and sides of the neck dull golden yellow, 

 without streaks, forming a more or less uniform collar ; tail black, 

 edged with olive-brown and tipped with dull rufous-white, and with 

 a subterminal black band when viewed from below. 



The winter plumage of the Burmese bird is not known. It will 

 probably be blackish above, and similar in general to that of 

 C. tytleri. 



Iris hazel-brown ; upper mandible dark brown ; lower mandible 

 and gape fleshy pink ; legs and claws flesh-colour. 



In summer the length is about 4; the tail 1*25; wing 1*8; 

 tarsus -75 ; bill -5. The total length and the length of the tail in 

 winter are not known. 



I provisionally identify the Burmese bird with Swinhoe's C. voli- 

 tans, but I am not satisfied that the two are absolutely identical, 

 nor that the Burmese and Chinese bird, or either of them, if dis- 

 tinct, extends down to Australia. The series from each country 

 is at present inadequate for a correct opinion to be arrived at. 



Distribution. Southern Pegu, along the grassy jungles on both 

 sides of the Pegu Canal from one lock to the other, but most com- 

 mon where the soil is sandy and suitable for the growth of thatch- 

 grass. 



llal>its, fyc. Similar to those of C. cursitans, but the present species 

 has a more musical and bell-like note. It breeds in May and June 



