Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 
255 
body pale tawny buff, whiter on the throat, breast, and abdomen ; sides 
of body and flanks ashy grey ; thighs deep tawny ; under tail-coverts 
tawny buff ; under wing-coverts and axillaries deep tawny ; quills below 
dusky ; inner edge of quills tawny. Total length 135, wing 55, tail 57, 
tarsus 24, culmen 14 mm. 
“ Young.- — Like the adult, distinguished by its rufous face, but differing 
from it by its nearly uniform rufous-brown colouration and deep tawny 
under surface, only the throat and abdomen being white.” 
The type of C. erythrops was collected at Kalabar on the West Coast, 
and since its discovery specimens have been recorded from a number of 
localities scattered over the forested regions of Central and East Africa, 
as well as from various places in the West. 
Very little has been recorded of the habits of this species. Alexander 
states that he found it in the fish-cane which grows on the banks of the 
upper reaches of the Zambesi, and that in habits it reminded him more 
of the Reed-warblers than the Cisticolidae. In the open forest of the 
marshy regions of Boror, 1 found it in small parties hunting for insects 
amongst the grass and stunted bushes. 
Specimens in the Transvaal Museum collection 
No. 
Locality. 
Date. 
Sex. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Tars. 
Culm. 
5293 
Boror, P. E. Africa 
2 
? (<?) 
55 
50 
23 
13 
5294 
?■? ?? 
2/7/08 
$ 
48 
48 
21 
12-5 
5283 
5? 
6/5/08 
$ ? (juv. 
) 59 
55 
23 
14 
5290 
5 >7/08 
¥ (juv.) 
49 
44 
21 
12 
6821 
Hector Spruit, E. 
Transvaal 
23/1/10 
$ 
57 
56 
21 
14 
6820 
5 J 5 5 
7 /2 /10 
$ 
52 
49 
21 
14 
Note. — The four specimens from Boror all differ from each other ; 5293 is apparently 
an adult $ ; 5294 is an adult $, differing from the supposed adult $ in having the whole 
upper surface washed with orange-rufous, the forehead and eyebrows like the ear-coverts 
and sides of face orange-tawny, and the crown somewhat brighter than the back ; 5283 is 
quite young, judging hy the feathering, and has the whole upper surface pale rufous with 
slight indications of streaks on some of the feathers of the back ; and the under surface, 
including the sides of face and throat, dull yellowish white, darker on the flanks and breast, 
which are also slightly tinged with rufous ; 5290 is a young $, resembling the young <$ in 
having the whole upper surface pale rufous, but the top of the head is much brighter coloured, 
contrasting strongly with the back ; the back is also faintly streaked. This specimen seems 
to agree fairly well with Peter’s D. procera, which was taken at Tette, in the vicinity of 
Boror. The two specimens from Hector Spruit (the first record of its occurrence so far 
south) are both coloured exactly like No. 5293 from Boror. Another specimen in the 
collection from N.-W. Rhodesia, labelled as C. sylvia, seems to me to be referable to this 
species too, but its plumage is somewhat worn. 
Group XI — Cisticola pusilla. 
(1) Tail about 90 % length of wing ; (2) first primary 56-60 % length 
of second ; (3) tail very broad and rather stiff ; (4) beak weak, equal in 
length to middle toe and half the claw ; (5) inner and outer toes about 
equal, their claws barely reaching to the base of the middle claw; (6) 
middle claw about half the length of toe, weak but sharp ; (7) seasonal 
changes not noted. Inhabits open glades in forested regions of Portuguese 
East Africa. 
