Birds around Mpwnu, Uganda. 497 



79. Prinia mystacea. Nests from March to June and 

 again iu September, the nest being sewn into leaves and 

 being composed of very fine grass. The eggs, two or three 

 in number, vary very much, some being pale blue and others 

 greenish, spotted or blotched vrith reddish brown. 



80. Cisticola sylvia. 



Cisticola sylvia Reichenow, Orn. Monatsb. 1904, jj. 28. 



This species builds near the ground in a clump of grass, 

 the nest being composed of coarse grass and lined with 

 thistle-down. The eggs (Plate X. figs. 7, 12) vary, some 

 being pale blue unspotted and others white speckled round 

 the larger end with reddish. The complement is two or 

 three, and they are laid in April and again in September. 



81. Cisticola strangii. Common. Nests in June. 



82. Cisticola lateralis. Common in the short grass. I 

 shot a male of this species and a female of C. sylvia at the 

 same nest, and believed them to be a pair. I now find that 

 all the specimens of C. lateralis which I have at different 

 times obtained are all males, and the few I have of C. sylvia 

 are all females. On looking through these species at the 

 Natural History Museum, my theory that they might be 

 the same species is not borne out altogether, and I exj^ect 

 that I was wrong, and that a C. lateralis happened to come 

 near the nest of C. sylvia while I was watching ; but I hope 

 to have another chance of satisfying myself before long. 



83. Cisticola rufa. Fairly common. A breeding male 

 was obtained in February. 



84. Cisticola erythrops. Not very common. 



85. Melocichla mentalis. Not common. A breeding male 

 was shot in May. 



86. Schcenicola apicalis. Males in breeding condition 

 were obtained in jNIarch and June. This is a very con- 

 spicuous bird when flying, but it usually only goes a few 

 yards before taking cover in thick grass, where it skulks 

 about. 



