262 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 
pale wood -brown, the latter rather broadly with dirty greyish white. Chin 
and throat dirty greyish white, indistinctly mottled with light umber- 
brown ; breast and anterior portion of belly pale sienna-yellow, distinctly 
mottled with oblong umber-brown spots nearly disposed in rows, middle 
and hinder portion of belly bluish white ; flanks and vent pale yellowish 
brown, the former variegated with longitudinal umber-brown stripes. 
The two centre tail feathers brownish red, the rest umber brown, the whole 
edged with wood-brown, and the three outermost ones of each side broadly 
tipped with white. Bill, legs, and toes pale buff-orange, the upper mandible 
deepened from a shade of brown ; claws of the same colour, rather brownish 
at the tips. Eyes reddish brown. Length 101, wing 47, tail 27, tarsus 23, 
middle toe 10 mm.” 
In winter the upper surface of head and body seems to be more clearly 
streaked, like other members of the genus. So far this species has only 
been recorded from the neighbourhood of Capetown and Swellendam, 
other species taking its place farther inland. 
The Transvaal Museum collection contains only one specimen, bearing 
a label on which no locality nor date is given ; but as the collector is stated 
to be B. H. Ivy, it was probably collected at Grahamstown, where that 
gentleman resides. It is slightly larger than measurements recorded of 
the species, giving : — wing 55, tail 34, tarsus 22, middle toe 11, culmen 
10 -5 mm. The top of the head and back of this specimen are streaked, 
and it is therefore probably in winter plumage. 
Levaillant has represented this bird perched on a twig at the side 
of a nest of the Capoc-vogel (Anthoscopus) ; but I do not think that this 
was the result of his own imagination, as it seems more likely that he relied 
upon information received from natives. Who but a Bushman or Hottentot 
would have given such an imaginative description of the habits and flirta- 
tions of the pinc-pinc as we find related in the text to the figure ? This 
explanation seems to be supported by the fact that the mouth of the nest 
is represented as pointing upwards. 
The colouration of this species is so distinct that there has never been 
any question as to its identity ; but there are a number of other species, 
two of which have been described from South Africa, two more require 
to be named and another has been described as a Cisticola. In general 
appearance the species are much alike, with the exception of textrix , and 
difficult to identify, small differences in colouration and measurements 
defining them. 
Hemipteryx major , spec. nov. 
Crown chestnut with indistinct paler streaks formed by the margins 
of the feathers being lighter coloured ; hind neck paler than the crown ; 
back more mottled, each feather being darker at its base and more or 
less margined with rufous-brown and whitish on the edges. Lower back 
and rump uniform red-brown, fading into buff at the tips of the lower 
plumes ; upper tail-coverts dark brown with red-brown margins ; tail 
feathers like the upper coverts, but broadly tipped with white. Primaries 
grey-brown, margined for the basal two-thirds with pale wood-brown ; 
wing- coverts with somewhat paler edges than the primaries ; inner second- 
aries darker than the primaries and more broadly margined with pale 
