264 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 
of the skin are : wing 54, first primary 12, tail 34, tarsus 21 -5, middle 
toe 11 -5, culmen 11 mm. 
An adult female skin collected at Belfast, Transvaal, on 11th January, 
1909, may prove to be identical with this species ; but it has much smaller 
feet and the crown is very dark brown, distinctly streaked with yellowish. 
It measures as follows : Length in the flesh 106 mm. ; wing 50, first primary 
12, tail 35, tarsus 18, middle toe 9 -5, culmen 10 mm. 
Two specimens collected in Natal may also be referable to this species, 
both of them being juvenile ; but more material is required to verify their 
identity. They differ from the type in having the under surface more 
yellowish, and the cheeks and tips of the ear-coverts freckled with brown, 
and, like the specimen from Belfast, have the crown very dark brown, 
clearly streaked with tawny yellow. They measure as follows : — No. 9210, 
Dargle, 20/3/08, juvenile (<J), wing 52-5, first primary 15, tail 37, tarsus 
21*5, middle toe 11, culmen 10 mm.; No. 6977, Red Hill, 29/4/10, $ 
(juvenile ?), wing 53, first primary 15, tail 35, tarsus 20 (?), middle toe 11,, 
culmen 10 mm. Lengths of these two specimens taken in the flesh are 
110 and 101 mm., respectively. 
Hemipteryx ayresi (Hartlaub).* 
Plate — Ibis, 1863, PI. 8, fig. 2 (juv. $ ?). 
This species was described as follows from specimens collected in 
Natal by Thos. Ayres : — “ Similar to Cisticola europeae from Spain, but 
much brighter in colour, rump rufous, feet considerably larger and tarsi 
shorter. Length : bill 10, wing 27, tarsus 18, middle toe 13 -5 mm. (£). 
•“ Female.— Under surface creamy yellow, rump brighter foxy-red.” 
The coloured plate accompanying the description was taken from 
“ a § in which the yellowish abdominal tint is more strongly marked than 
it is in another female which Mr. Ayres also transmitted, and which closely 
resembles the $ bird.” The figured specimen would seem to be the younger 
of the two $$ mentioned, judging by analogy. 
A fuller description was subsequently given by Hartlaub in “ V. d. 
Decken’s Reisen in Ost-Afr.,” Vol. IV, p. 231, as follows : — “ Top of head 
and remaining upper surface dark brown, each feather with rusty brownish 
margins, the upper surface giving a dark brown appearance with paler 
streaks ; rump bright rusty red ; wing quills dark brown, on the outer 
webs margined with rusty red, on the inner webs almost to the tips rusty 
yellow ; wing- coverts dark brown, broadly edged with rusty brown ; lores 
and a narrow eyebrow rusty white, as also the cheeks ; remaining under 
surface rusty yellowish brown, brighter and darker on the flanks and 
thighs ; chin and throat whitish ; middle of breast and abdomen dirty 
white ; tail feathers brownish black, edged on the outer web with rusty 
brown, and rusty yellowish white tips ; the two middle tail feathers rusty 
brownish, black-brown along the shafts ; tail feathers, viewed from below, 
dull black, with broad dirty white tips. Bill yellow-brownish horn, along 
the culmen brownish ; legs and claws horn-yellow. Length 94, wing 45, 
tail 29, middle toe 11 *5 mm.” The species is ascribed in this case to the 
young of C. cisticola. Mr, Ayres’ notes on the specimens show that the 
* Ibis, 1863, p. 325. 
