78 Mr. B. Alexander— An Ornithological 
kept very persistently to the long grass, constantly tanta¬ 
lizing us by getting up at our feet, to drop again into the 
thick weed a few yards ahead, thereby making the shooting 
of them no easy matter. The male bird has a screechy song, 
that becomes scolding in tone on the observer approaching 
its haunts. 
On dissection a male had the sexual organs much de¬ 
veloped, while one of the birds observed had a piece of 
nesting-material in its beak. 
Adult S (crown pale rufous ). Wing 2*3 inches, tail 2*4. 
Iris yellow 7 ; upper mandible dark brown, low/er horn-colour; 
legs and feet yellowish flesh-colour. 
Adult $ (crown streaked ). Wing 2*0 inches, tail 2T. 
86. Cisticola subruficapilla (Smith). 
Well distributed over low-lying country that is covered 
with thick grass and high weed. The male bird has rather 
a pretty little song, which it utters from the top of some 
prominent grass-plant, the next minute to pop down out of 
sight into the thick weed. The specimens we obtained in 
September are evidently immature birds still in winter 
plumage; all the feathers are much abraded, the upper parts 
are light fulvous brown, the feathers of the mantle and 
scapulars being broadly streaked with dark brown, while the 
colour of the crown and nape is very pale and almost uniform 
with the mantle. In one specimen the feathers of the crown 
are beginning to assume a dark rufous. On the other hand, 
an adult female killed in January has the upper parts darker 
and more ashy grey in appearance, the brown streaks to the 
feathers of the mantle and scapulars hardly noticeable, while 
the crown and nape are a uniform dark rufous. 
Immature $ (September). Wing 2*5 inches, culmen 0'45, 
tail (worn) 2*5. Iris hazel; upper mandible light brown, 
lower light horn-colour. 
Immature ? (September). Wing 2’0 inches, culmen 0*4, 
tail (worn) 2*0. 
Adult ? (January). Wing 2‘1 inches, culmen 0*4, tail2*0. 
Upper mandible dark brown, lower horn-colour. 
