species 14. CISTICOLA CHINIANA. Pls. IX. & X.

First named in 1843 from a single specimen obtained by Dr. Andrew Smith's expedition. near the southern limit of its range, the South African bird, as one of the medium sized, pattern-backed Cisticolae may be said to have finally come into clear definition in Roberts' 1913 Review after a long period of endless confusion with some or all of the species of the subruficapilla group. But that does not entirely clear the ground for chiniana , for it is a remarkably plastic form in so far as coloration goes, and north of the Zambesi, particularly in equatorial East Africa, presents certain geographical variations of coloration which have tended towards confusing it with some of the plain-backed species of the genus.