DESCRIPTIONS OF SIX NEW AFRICAN BIRDS 

 By EDGAR A. MEARNS 



ASSOCIATE IN ZOOLOGY, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Four of the forms here described are from the collection made by 

 the Childs Frick African Expedition, 1911-1912; and two are from 

 the Smithsonian African Expedition 1909- 1910 collection, made under 

 the direction of Col. Theodore Roosevelt. 



The names of special tints and shades of colors used in this paper 

 conform to Robert Ridgway's " Color Standards and Color Nomen- 

 clature, issued March 10, 1913. All measurements are in millimeters. 



CISTICOLA ROBUSTA ABAYA, new subspecies 



Abaya Grass-Warbler 



Type-specimen. — Adult male, Cat. No. 245693, IT. S. National 

 Museum ; collected on the southeast shore of Lake Abaya, altitude 

 3,600 feet, southern Abyssinia, March 21, 1912, by Edgar A. Mearns. 

 (Original number, 20797.) 



Characters. — Most closely related to Cisticola robusta robusta 

 Riippell from Schoa and C. r. tana (described below) ; paler than 

 robusta and darker than tana. 



Description of type and only specimen (adult male). — Pileum 

 dark brown, with the feathers narrowly bordered with olive-buff ; 

 ear-coverts buffy white tipped with pale gray ; lores dirty white ; 

 nape cinnamon-buff, with dark centers to the feathers ; mantle brown- 

 ish black, all of the feathers bordered with light buffy gray, produc- 

 ing a spotted or somewhat striped appearance ; rump drab-gray, 

 unspotted ; a few upper tail-coverts with black apical spots ; wing 

 with secondaries dark brown, with yellowish gray edging to the 

 feathers ; primaries with basal three-fifths edged with snuff brown on 

 outer webs ; outer wing-coverts light drab, with dark centers to the 

 feathers ; rectrices grayish brown, with broad subterminal bars or 

 spots of black, and with grayish-white tips, the middle pair darkest, 

 and all obscurely f asciated ; under parts olive-buff, fading to white 

 on chin, throat, and sides of face, and deepening to pale vinaceous 

 on outer aspect of thighs ; axillars, under wing-coverts, and inner 

 edges of quill-feathers vinaceous-buff ; iris light grayish brown ; bill 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 61, No. 11 



