Annals of the Transvaal Museum, 
233 
The following is copied from Smith’s original description : — 
“ Top of head and upper parts of the neck pale chestnut brown, the 
latter lightest ; interscapulars, back and tail-coverts pale broccoli-brown 
washed with yellowish brown ; tail the same colour, but brighter and the 
feathers margined with light yellowish brown of a dull hue. Lesser quill- 
coverts light brownish red, broadly margined and tipped with pale broccoli- 
brown. Primary and secondary quill-coverts, and primary and secondary 
quill feathers pale brownish red, margined more or less broadly with pale 
yellowish brown, and a few of the secondaries and tertiary feathers edged 
with pale chestnut brown. Chin, throat, centre of breast and belly, pale 
straw yellow ; side of head, neck, breast, belly and vent pale greyish 
brown ; legs and toes pale buff-orange ; claws a pale horn colour ; eyes 
bright reddish orange. Length 111 mm. ; wing, 53 -7 ; tail, 47 ; tarsus, 
21 .” 
The history of this species is somewhat involved, and requires to be 
treated at some length. In the year 1850, Bonaparte, on finding that the 
same name had been applied by Fraser to another species of the genus 
found in West Africa, gave the South African species the new name of 
Smithi, in honour of its discoverer ; and for forty years it was known by 
that name. In 1891, Reichenow, after having noted that Fraser’s descrip- 
tion was antedated by a year by Smith’s, gave the West African species 
the new name of rufopileata. Prior to this, however, Dr. Sharpe placed 
the species as the female of aberrans in his edition of Layard’s “ Birds of 
South Africa.” Messrs. Gurney and Ayres in writing on the subject in 
the Ibis of 1880 (p. 101) and 1884 (p. 226), pointed out that aberrans and 
Smithi were distinct species. In this connection, I may mention that 
Mr. Gurney’s notes are somewhat spoilt by the fact that at least one of 
the specimens he gave measurements of did not belong to the former 
species, but to another which I am calling C. monticola ; but this point 
does not much affect the question at issue as the two species, aberrans 
and monticola, are both very much larger than ruficapilla. 
In compiling the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,” Sharpe 
then altered his opinion as to this species being the female of aberrans, 
and placed it as the winter plumage form of Dryodromas (i.e. Cisticola) 
fulvicapilla ; this was also done in the appendix to his edition of the 
Birds of South Africa.” In the year 1908, Haagner referred some speci- 
mens of this species to Dr. Reichenow, and on the latter’s endorsement 
gave them the name of C. cinnamomeiceps ; in doing so, Haagner indicated 
that the type came from Beira and the cotype from Matabeleland, and 
mentioned that a number of specimens were from the Transvaal. The 
question becomes still more involved, for I cannot help thinking that the 
specimens from Beira are referable to Alexander’s C. mulleri from the 
Zambesi. C. mulleri is described as closely resembling C. dodsoni, Sharpe, 
of Somaliland, but differing in not having white tips to the tail feathers, 
and the subterminal marks on these feathers narrow and only perceptible 
under certain lights ; the type is a female, which is said to measure, wing 
46 mm., tail 41 mm. As may be noted by reference to the table of measure- 
ments, males appear to have the wing about 3 mm. longer than that of 
the females, and as the three specimens from Beira are males (at least, 
