2 
Juv. adulto similis sed ubique magis rufescens: corpore subtts rufescenti-ochraceo lavato. 
Adult Male (Corsica, 30th April). Crown, back, wing-coyerts, and upper parts generally black, broadly 
striped with warm buff, the ground-colour of the feathers being black and the margins warm buff; 
rump and upper tail-coverts rufous buff, slightly marked with black ; quills blackish brown, externally 
narrowly margined with warm buff, the inner secondaries marked like the back; central rectrices 
blackish brown, broadly margined with light brown, the rest of the tail-feathers dark brown, termi- 
nated with a blackish patch, the lateral ones with a final broad white termination ; underparts white, 
the breast washed with buff, and the flanks and under tail-coverts with dull rufous ; bill horn-brown, 
yellowish at the base; iris brown; legs brownish flesh-colour. Total length about 4:25 inches, 
culmen 0°48, wing 1:9, tail 1°85, tarsus 0°75. 
Adult Female (Smyrna). Does not differ from the male in plumage. 
Young (Sardinia). Resembles the adult, but the entire plumage is much more rufous, and the underparts 
are washed with rufescent ochreous. 
Obs. Examples of this species from different localities, as well as from the same locality; differ not a little, 
some being much paler and greyer, and others more rufous and darker ; and some have the head darker 
and less striped than others. One, in particular, from Corsica has the head dark brown with scarcely 
any markings on the fore part of the crown. In order to show the variation in colour I have figured 
a very grey adult male from Smyrna and a rather reddish-coloured bird from Sardinia, both of which 
are in my collection. In the breeding-season the old male is said to have the gape of a purple colour, 
and the female yellowish flesh; and the sexes may then be distinguished by this difference in the 
coloration of the gape. 
The variation in size in specimens of Cisticola cursitans from different localities is not very great. I have 
measured almost the entire series I have examined, and find that examples from Europe vary as 
follows—culmen 0:45-0:48 inch, wing 1:9-2:0, tail 1:8-1°85, tarsus 0°75-0°8; those from Africa— 
culmen 0:42-0:46 inch, wing 1°85-2:0, tail 1:5-1°7, tarsus 0°75-0°78; those from India—culmen 
0:44-0:48 inch, wing 1:9-2-09, tail 1:65-1°8, tarsus 0°7-0°8; and those from China—culmen 0:45-0:48 
inch, wing 1:9-2:0, tail 1:65-1°8, tarsus 0°75-0°8. 
A COMMON species in Southern Europe, the present bird is also found far south in Africa, and in 
Asia as far east as China. Both in Africa and in Asia there are not a few tolerably closely 
allied species; but in Europe there is certainly only the one form, subject to some variation, 
which inhabits the Mediterranean region from west to east, not ranging into Central or Northern 
Europe. 
In France it is confined to the southern districts, being very numerous in the marshy portions 
of the Camargue, and in similar localities along the Mediterranean. M. Adrien Lacroix records 
it from the French Pyrenees, where, he says, it arrives in April and leaves in September. In 
Portugal it is stated to be tolerably common. Mr. Saunders informs me that it is very common 
in Southern and Eastern Spain, as far north as the Ebro, but he did not observe it in Catalonia ; 
nor did I ever meet with it when collecting there. Colonel Irby says that he found it common 
and resident near Gibraltar, and very common in the winter. Mr. Saunders remarks that it has 
several names in Spanish, being called Bolsicon on account of its purse-shaped nest, Tin-tin from 
its sharp note, and Chispita (7. e. little spark) from its rapid quick flight. 
