246 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 
No. 
Locality. 
Date. 
Sex. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Tars. 
Culm. 
9179 
Inkomati Riv., Tvl. 
20/12/11 
3 
66 
55? 
21 
13 
8952 
Umbelluzi Riv., P. 
S. E. Africa 
19/5/11 
3 
68 
63 
23 
13 
8951 
55 55 
17/5 /II 
3 
69 
68 
23 
13 -5 
8950 
5 5 5 5 
23/5/11 
3 
67 
61 
23 
13 
8949 
5 5 5 5 
27/5/11 
3 ( juv.?) 
60 
57 
21 
13 
8948 
5 5 55 
25/5/11 
cftjuv.?) 
54 
51 
19 
12 
Note. — Possibly two species occur side by side in the East Coast belt, several naturalists 
having noted the remarkable difference in size between males collected at the same time 
and in the same localities ; but I am inclined to identify the smaller ones as being juvenile, 
because some of them have not the tail markings so clearly defined (a sign of juvenility in 
other species) and because amongst all the specimens I have examined there are none which 
differ in any other respect as regards colour. In winter the crown is slightly lighter and the 
flanks rather more inclined to buff than in summer. 
Group V — Cisticola (?) rufilata. 
(1) Tail 100-115 % length, of wing ; (2) first primary 60-63 % length 
of second ; (3) tail slender and stiff ; (4) beak slender, equal in length to 
middle toe and more than half the claw ; (5) inner toe slightly longer than 
outer, its claw reaching to base of middle claw ; (6) middle claw slender 
and sharp, half the length of toe ; (7) seasonal change, well marked. 
Inhabits trees growing in parched localities ; apparently silent — at any 
rate, never noisy ; and shy of man. 
These characters seem to be the same as those of the genus Sjjiloptila ; 
but information as to habits of nest-building and egg- characters are needed 
to enable one to trace their affinity. 
1. Cisticola rufilata (Hartlaub).* 
The following description of an adult male was taken by Dr. Sharpe 
from the type specimen, vide “ Birds of South Africa,” p. 269 : — 
“ Above sandy brown, the dorsal feathers mesially dark brown, giving 
a slightly streaked appearance, these streaks shaded with rufous on each 
side, imparting a rufous appearance to the back ; head and neck uniform 
light chestnut ; wing- coverts light brown, washed and tipped with ashy 
fulvous, the median series with obsolete indications of a rufescent streak 
near the tips ; quills brown, externally edged with pale rufous especially 
near the base of the primaries, the margins to the inner secondaries paler ; 
rump uniform sandy brown ; upper tail-coverts pale rufous with lighter 
buff margins ; tail light chestnut, all the feathers tipped with huffy white, 
before which is a blackish brown subterminal bar, the two centre feathers 
much more narrowly tipped and the sub terminal bar very indistinct ; 
lores and a very well marked eyebrow dull Avhite, sides of face yellowish, 
the upper margins of the ear-coverts inclining to chestnut ; cheeks and 
throat dull white ; rest of under surface of body yellowish ochre, darker 
on the sides and much lighter down the centre ; thighs pale chestnut ; 
under wing and tail-coverts yellowish ochre ; inner lining of quills ashy 
brown, margined with rufous along the inner web ; bill dark brown, the 
under mandible yellowish ; feet yellowish. Total length 144, wing 58, 
tail 68, tarsus 24, culmen 14 mm.” 
* V. d. Decken’s Reisen, IV, p. 238 (1870). 
