VOL. XI, PART 0 ISSUED 30th SEPTEM BER, 1976
MISCELLANEOUS TAXONOMIC NOTES ON AFRICAN BIRDS XLV
b y
P. A. CLANCEY
(Director, Durban M useum , Durban)
THE RACES OF
THE W HITETHROAT SYLVIA COMMUNIS L A T H A M
REACHING THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUB-REGION
Following the findings of Stresemann and Stresemann , Journ.f.
Ornith., vol. cix, 3, 1968, pp. 303 - 314, nom inate Sylvia communis
Latham , 1787: Kent, England, is currently not consi dered to reach
the South A frican Sub-R egion during its non-breedin g soj ou m in E th i
opian Africa, the tw o races wintering in the Sub-Re gion being S.c.
volgensis Domaniewski, 1915: Saratov, Volga R., U.S.S.R., an d
S.c.icterops Menetries, 1832: Talych=Talyshskiye Gory, south
eastern Azerbaydzhan, U.S.S.R. I have recently rese a r c h e d
the races of S.communis to be adm itted to the South A frican list and
conclude on the basis of m aterial from Rhodesia and Botswana, in
addition to specim ens from Zam bia and southern-west ern Tanzania,
that while it is true enough that m ost specim ens ar e clearly attri
butable to both volgensis a n d icterops, som e elem ents of S.c.communis
do reach the drier interior of southern A frica duri ng their non-breed
ing stay in Africa, where they m oult, and that the exclusion of this
taxon from the list is indefensible.
W hile m uch of the m aterial available is in a seriou sly abraded and
insolated condition, a sufficiency of m oulting or c om pletely m oulted
[P rice R l , 5 0 nett] Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced 1 2 0 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
Atlantic or, better highland Britain, population is sufficiently dis
crete as to be recognised as a fourth subspecies.
S.c.jordansi differs from S.c.communis in the male having the
pileum m uch darker and greyer (H air Brown (pi. xlvi ) , versus D r a b
(same pi.)); dorsum , dark Light Brownish Olive (pi. xxx) or redder,
against B uffy Brow n (pi. xl). Ventrally, generally with the breast
deeper pale vinaceous-cinnam on, and flanks darker a nd browner. In
the wings, the red-brow n outer vanes and tips of th e greater-coverts
and remiges are m ore saturated and ochraceous, and there is little
or no developm ent of a pale wing-bar across the api ces of the said
coverts. Fem ales are sim ilarly darker and rather re dder above, the
head-top likewise darker and;greyer. Ventrally they do not differ,
but the wings are also m ore saturated reddish over the coverts and
rem iges, and the w ing-bar is lacking. Juveniles als o show the darker
head-top character. W ings of 15 68,5 - 72mm. In its cold grey
head-top colouration jordansi shows closer affinity w ith S.c.icterops
t h a n w i t h S.c.communis.
The range of S.c.jordansi is highland Britain in Ireland, W ales,
north-western and northern England, and Scotland an d the Inner
H ebrides. It does not reach eastern or southern A fr ica on m igration,
and apparently winters in far W est Africa. Som e spe cim ens in the
paratypical series taken in M ay in Scotland are in fresh contour
plumage, but with the wing-tips and tails relativel y abraded,
suggesting that in a proportion of this race the au tum nal m oult is
arrested and only com pleted shortly before departur e from the
African wintering grounds.
South-eastern England breeders, topotypical of S.c.communis, a r e
slightly interm ediate tow ards jordansi in that some males show a
darkening of the pileum , but otherwise they agree w ell w ith Conti
nental birds. This race is in a sense the link betw e e n jordansi a n d
volgensis, having the short wing of the form er and the colour a t i o n o f
the latter.
A m ajor problem in appreciating the nature of the v ariation in
the west of Europe is the industrial grim e which se riously contam i
nates the birds on their arrival on the breeding gr ounds. For purposes
of this study all British, D utch and Germ an breeder s were first dry
c l e a n e d .
THE AUSTRAL AFRICAN RACES OF THE RUSH W ARBLER
BRADYPTERUS BABOECALA (VIEILLOT)
The (Little) R ush W arbler is a largely sedentary sp ecies of perm anent
marshes, papyrus swamps, and reedbeds alongside riv e r s a n d Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced by P. A. Clancey 1 2 1
lagoons, w hich extends in a series of m inor races f rom Niger and Chad
in the west and the Sudan and Ethiopia in the east, south, in the
w est, to southern A ngola, and in the east to the so uthern and eastern
Cape and N atal. The precise num ber of races it is m eaningful to ad
m it is still undecided, although m any have been des cribed, owing
to the sm allness of the series in m ost instances. T he races occurring
in southern Africa have at no tim e been studied in depth. Roberts,
Birds of South Africa, 1940, p. 253, adm itted som e five subspecies
for the Sub-Region, giving the characters believed to distinguish
the taxa and an assessm ent of the ranges as he saw them on the very
lim ited m aterial available in South African m useum s in the days
im m ediately prior to the Second W orld W ar. A study of m aterial
available to m e in the m id-1960’s indicated that at least four races
o f B.baboecala were acceptable in the South African Sub-Region,
these being in due course recognised in m y Catalogue of Birds of the
South African Sub-Region, part iv, 1966, pp. 472, 473, and in the
S.A.O.S. Check List of the Birds of South Africa, 1969, pp. 220, 221.
Recent study of a series of 138 specim ens from sout h-central and
southern Africa carried out in the Durban Museum su ggests the
treatm ent of the populations adopted in m y Catalogue in 1966 is
fundam entally correct, though the ranges of the fou r taxa adm itted
require to be adjusted som ew hat, and the revised di agnostic charac
ters are in need of publication. Variation of m om en t in grouping the
populations into acceptable subspecies affects the level of saturation
of the dorsum , the relative whiteness or buffiness of the ground to
the venter, and the degree of streaking over the lo w er fore-throat.
There is a m easure of variation in size and the len gth of the bill, the
largest and longest billed birds occurring in the p opulation resident
in the W inter Rainfall D istrict of the Cape. R obert s used bill-length
to distinguish two large south-western races: B.b.baboecala a n d B.b.brachypterus (V ieillot), from those occurring further north in t h e
east in South Africa: B.b.transvaalensis R o b e r t s , B.b.tongensis
Roberts, and B.b.bedfordi Ogilvie-Grant=B.6.wsin Neave, but,
while the m eans of this variable are statistically significantly differ
ent, the wide range of individual variation and ove rlap in m easure
m ents are such that I do not believe that bill-leng th on its own can
be used w ith assurance in the recognition of subspe cific taxa.
Individual variation is relatively high in the pres ent warbler,
w hich, correlated w ith environm entally induced colo ur m odification
and the sm allness of sam ples from single localities taken at one tim e,
renders grouping of populations into satisfactory r aces difficult.
Contamination from plant dust and carbon from grass fires also
obscures differences unless m aterial is dry-cleaned in advance of Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced 1 2 2 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
critical exam ination. On the other hand, “foxing” s carcely affects
the Rush W arbler. A specim en collected by Lucas at P ot chef stroom
in 1877 examined agrees remarkably well with recent l y - t a k e n
m aterial of the same taxon.
The population of the W inter Rainfall District of t he Cape is
not divisible on the basis of colouration into west ern and southern
races. R oberts, loc. cit., recognised tw o subspecies from the south
western and southern Cape, respectively, the form er a s B.b.baboecala
and the latter as B.b.brachypterus, but the arrangem ent is invalid,
because, apart from the under tail-covert character used to dif
ferentiate them not holding up in series, both nam e s have virtually
the sam e type-locality: B.b.baboecala: Knysna, and B.b.brachypterus
Knysna, or better, perhaps, Plettenberg Bay. They a re, therefore,
absolute synonym s. The eastern lim its of this relat ively large, long
billed population appear to be the East London dist rict of the
eastern Cape, a specimen from East London being of n o m i n a t e
B.baboecala, while one from further up the coast from M tafufu R . ,
coastal Transkei, is referable to a group of rather smaller popula
tions, w ith lighter flanks, duller under tail-cover ts, and lower fore
throat streaking w hich ranges from being lightly in dicated to absent.
Birds from the Transkei, East Griqualand and Natal also range
shorter in the bill and wing than those of the W int er Rainfall
D istrict: bills 18 -17, wings 54 - 60, versus 16 -18,5 and 60 - 64,5
m m . I n m y Catalogue, p.473, I placed such elem ents as B.b.trans- vaalensis Roberts, 1919: W akkerstroom , south-eastern Transva a l .
On the basis of the variation as now interpreted I believe the low
elevation birds occurring along the Transkei and N a tal coast, as
well as those present in the im m ediate hinterland i n N atal, certainly
below 1 200 m. a.s.L, should be associated with the subspecies
B.b.tongensis Roberts, 1931: Kosi Bay, north-eastern Zululand,
rather than transvaalensis, w hich w ill be discussed briefly hereunder.
B.b.tongensis is now seen as a wide-ranging lowland race, which
differs from B.b.baboecala in its smaller size and shorter culmen,
obsolete or absent fore-throat streaking, and paler , warm er buffy
flanks and under tail-coverts. Populations from the Transkei coast,
coastal Natal and Zululand, north along the coastla nds of eastern
A frica to north-eastern Tanzania and coastal K enya to the Tana R .
can be satisfactorily grouped in it. It also ranges onto the interior
plateau of the continent in Tanzania, Malawi, parts of Zambia,
and north-eastern Rhodesia. B.b.moreaui Sclater, 1931: Amani,
Usam bara M ts, north-eastern Tanzania, nam ed in the s a m e y e a r
a s tongensis, is antedated by the latter name by a m onth or two. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced by P. A. Clancey 1 2 3
The population present over the upper elevations of the Drakens
berg versant in East Griqualand and Natal, north to the Orange
Free State, the plateau of the Transvaal and of Rho desia are al
m ost invariably associated by workers with nom inate B.baboecala,
though adm itted as distinct in both m y Catalogue (1966) and in
the S.A.O.S. Check List (1969) under the name B.b.transvaalensis
Roberts. Roberts, Ann.Transv.Mus., vol. vi, 3, 1919, pp. 116, 117,
g a v e transvaalensis specific rank, differentiating it from B.brachy-
pterus=B.b.baboecala on the basis of a generally lighter facies and
shorter bill. Com pared directly with south-western and southern
C a p e B.b.baboecala, m aterial of transvaalensis, which included three
para- and topotypes from W akkerstroom , the type-loc ality, shows
that this form is not paler above than nominate baboecala, b u t
is m arkedly whiter below : over the fore-throat, m id -breast and the
entire m edio-ventral streak; and the sides, flanks and under tail-
coverts are lighter, less olivaceous-brown. In cont rast to the con
d i t i o n i n tongensis, the low er fore-throat streaking is sharply defined ,
but like this latter taxon it is sm aller than baboecala and averaging
shorter billed. Populations agreeing w ith the W akke rstroom sam ple
range from East Griqualand and the high interior of Natal (Blood
R iver), to the Orange Free State, and the plateau o f the Transvaal,
north to Rhodesia. One of the specim ens from K abula bula, northern
Botswana, placed by Roberts, Ann.Transv.Mus., vol. xvi, 1, 1935,
p . 1 4 1 , a s B.b.tongensis appears to me to fit in better with trans
vaalensis, which race m ay reach the Zam besi in the north-west o f
Rhodesia and adjacent areas im m ediately to the west .
In the whiter ventral surface B.b.transvaalensis reveals a shift
t o w a r d s B.b.m siri Neave, 1909: Bunkeya R., Shaba, Zaire,' which
latter race is present only narrowly within South A frican Sub-
Region lim its in the O kavango Swam p region of north ern Botswana.
N orth of this it extends through eastern A ngola and Zam bia m ainly
west of the upper Zam besi, to Shaba, in Zaire, then ce east through
the northern districts of Zambia to the Luapula and N o r t h e r n
D istricts. It probably also reaches south-eastern T anzania, because
its influence can be seen in northern M alawi specim ens presently
before m e. B.b.m siri is a form closely associated with papyrus
swam p, its occurrence within South African limits b eing virtually
confined to this particularly habitat. The race con cerned differs
f r o m transvaalensis a n d tongensis in having the upper-parts sepia,
the under-parts rather greyer white than in the for m er, the lower
fore-throat alm ost invariably lightly streaked, and the flanks and
under tail-coverts darker. There is no difference i n dim ensions be
t w e e n msiri, transvaalensis a n d tongensis. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced 1 2 4 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
Im m ediately to the north of m siri in equatorial A frica lies B.b.
centralis Neumann, 1908: between M kingo and Muhera, Rwanda,
w h i l e B.b.benguellensis Bannerman, 1927: Chicuma, Benguela,
Angola, is present to the west, where it occurs ove r the plateau
from western and northern H uila and extrem e eastern Benguela to
Huam bo and adjacent Bie. Other races lying to the n o r t h a n d
north-east of centralis a r e B.b.elgonensis M adarasz, 1912: Buchungu,
Mt. Elgon, western Kenya/Uganda, B.b.sudanensis Grant and
M ackworth-Praed, 1941: W hite Nile at 9° 30' N., 30° 40' E .=Lake
No, Sudan, and B.b.abyssinicus (Blundell and Lovat), 1899: L.
Chercher, eastern Ethiopia. W hile these taxa are ad m i t t e d b y
M ackworth-Praed and Grant, Birds Eastern and North Eastern
Africa, vol. ii, 1955, pp. 369 - 371, the characters given f o r t h e m
are all but worthless, and the north-eastern popula tions of the
species are in need of a re-appraisal along lines s im ilar to this report
on the species in southern Africa. B.b.chadensis Bannerm an, 1936:
Lake Chad, based on a singleton obtained by Boyd Al exander, is
of understandably uncertain status at this stage.
The names, characters and ranges of the four southe rn African
form s of the Rush W arbler will now stand as follows :
Bradypterus baboecala baboecala ( V i e i l l o t ) Sylvia baboecala V ieillot, Nouv.Diet.d'Hist.Nat., vol. xi, 1817, p. 172:
South A frica=K nysna, southern Cape (ex Levaillant).
Sylvia brachyptera Vieillot, Nouv.Dict.d’Hist.Nat., vol. xi, 1817,
p. 206: Knysna, southern Cape (ex Levaillant). Sclater, Aethiop., part ii, 1930, p. 508, gives Plettenberg B ay as th e t y p e -
l o c a l i t y .
Size relatively large. Dorsum dark Saccardo’s Um ber ( R i d g w a y
(1912), pi. xxix), reddening over the rum p and uppe r tail-coverts.
Below, pale cream y or buffy white, the lower fore-t hroat lightly
streaked with brown, the breast with ground pale bu ff and lateral
breast, body sides and flanks pale Tawny-O live (sam e pi.); under
tail-coverts dark taw ny-olive.
W ings of 20 59 - 66,5 (62,9), SD 1,97, SE 0,44, cul m e n s f r o m
skull 17 - 19 (17,8), SD 0,52, SE 0,12, tails 64 - 79 (71,0), SD 4,16,
SE 0,93 mm.
Material examined: 2 7 (Cape: Kersefontein (Berg R.), French
Hoek, Fish Hoek, M uizenberg, Strandfontein, Durbanv ille, Cape
Flats, Somerset W est, Stellenbosch, Bontebok Nation a l P a r k ,
Knysna, Port Elizabeth, Swartkops R., Graham stown, E a s t L o n
d o n ) . Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced by P. A. Clancey 1 2 5
Range: South-western and southern Cape, east to about the
Great Kei R.
Bradypterus baboecala tongensis R o b e r t s
Bradypterus brachypterus tongensis R o b e r t s , Ann.Transv.Mus., v o l .
xiv, 3, 1931, p. 241: K osi Bay, north-eastern Zulul a n d .
Bradypterus brachypterus moreaui S c l a t e r , Bull.Brit.Orn.Club, v o l .
lii, 1931, p. 57: Am ani, Usam bara M ts, north-easter n Tanzania.
M oderately well differentiated from last. Dorsally, averaging
rather m ore reddish, less dark olivaceous, than in n o m i n a t e baboe
cala. In newly assumed dress differs taxonom ically in ha v i n g t h e
lower fore-throat streaking vestigial or absent, an d entire venter
tinged w ith pale yellow or buffish yellow , and w ith the breast, sides
and flanks warmer, more yellowish or orange tawny; under tail-
coverts paler. Tail often a little redder. R anging shorter in the wing,
bill and tail. Several of these characters are grea tly m odified or lost
through abrasion and the action of the sun after fi ve or six m onths.
W ings of 20 <3$ 54,5 - 60 (57,1), SD 1,38, SE 0,31, c u l m e n s
15+ - 17,5 (16,3), SD 0,70, SE 0,16, tails 55 - 66, 5 (62,8), SD 2,92,
SE 0,65 mm.
Material examined: 5 5 ( Transkei: Port St. Johns, M tafufu R .;
Natal: Durban, Um hlanga Rocks, Pinetown, Kloof, Pieterm ar i t z
burg, G reytown; north-eastern Zululand: Gollel, M kuzi R ., M angusi
Forest, M osie Store (M aputa); Transvaal: Nelspruit, Zoutpansberg; Mozambique: Bela Vista, Panda, Vilanculos, Lagoa de Ura (Beira
district), M opeia; Rhodesia: H aroni/Lusitu confluence; Salisbury
district, 48 km E. of Chirundu on Zambesi; M alaw i: C h i r o m o ,
Nam wera, Chinteche; Zambia: Chipata (Fort Jam eson), Lundazi,
Mpika, Namwala, Busanga Plain (Kasempa); Caprivi/ Botswana:
Serondelas, K abulabula, Kasane).
Range: Transkei coast, coastal and lower Midland Natal an d
Zululand, eastern Swaziland, and eastern and north- eastern Trans
vaal, M ozam bique, south-eastern and northern Rhodes ia (in Ma-
shonaland from about Salisbury northwards), norther n Botswana
and adjacent Caprivi along the lower Chobe R., Zam b ia south and
e a s t o f B.b.m siri, in the Eastern District, M pika, and Central and
Southern D istricts to about 25° E. (K asem pa sam ples are som ewhat
interm ediate between tongensis a n d msiri), M alawi, Tanzania, and
the lowlands of south-eastern K enya to the Tana R. (vide M a c k -
worth-Praed and Grant, Birds Eastern and North Eastern Africa,
vol. ii, 1955, p. 370). Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced 1 2 6 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
Remarks: Sm aller size, and yellower tinged ventral surface a n d
rustier and paler flanks and under tail-coverts in newly m oulted
condition, the lower fore-throat streaking vestigia l or absent,
distinguish this race.
Bradypterus baboecala transvaalensis R o b e r t s
Bradypterus transvaalensis R o b e r t s , Ann.Transv.Mus., vol. vi, 3,
1919, p. 116: W akkerstroom , south-eastern Transvaal .
N ot separable from nom inate B.baboecala on the upper-parts, but
differs in series ventrally, having the throat whit er, the streaking
over the lower fore-throat darker; centre of breast and medio-
ventral plane m uch whiter, and m ore contrasted agai nst the sides
and flanks, w hich latter are paler, less saturated, than in the nom i
nate subspecies; under tail-coverts paler, less oli ve tinged. Ranging
sm aller and shorter in the bill than B.b.baboecala.
W hiter venter, dark throat streaking and duller, le s s t a w n y ,
flanks separate the present race from tongensis.
W ings of 20(J$ 55 - 61,5 (58,5), SD 1,37, SE 0,31, culm ens 15 -
18 (16,2), SD 0,77, SE 0,17, tails 62 - 69,5 (65,1) , SD 2,10, SE 0,47m m .
Material examined: 2 7 ( East Griqualand and Natal: M o u n t
Fletcher, Cedarville, B lood R iver; Transvaal: W akkerstroom , Pot-
chefstroom , M oordrift, Zoutpansberg; northern Cape: K u r u m a n ;
Rhodesia: M atopos Hills, Selous, Banti Forest Reserve, Lusit u R . ,
Salisbury district).
Range: East Griqualand, Upper Natal and adjacent Zululand
above about 1 370 m . a.s.l., western Swaziland, Ora nge Free State,
the low lands of Lesotho, the northern Cape (K urum an ), the highveld
of the Transvaal, the plateau of Rhodesia in M atabe leland, the
M idlands, M ashonaland (north to Salisbury), and the Eastern H igh
l a n d s .
Remarks: H eavier lower fore-throat streaking and whiter thr o a t ,
m id-breast and m edio-ventral streak distinguish transvaalensis f r o m
both nom inate baboecala a n d tongensis. Size as in the latter.
R o b e r t s , loc.cit., described transvaalensis as generally rather paler
t h a n B.brachypterus=B.b.baboecala, and with the bill shorter.
B.b.transvaalensis is not lighter than baboecala, though clearer white
below ; while the bill-length is statistically signi ficantly different, it
is not a taxonom ic character because of the overlap .
Bradypterus baboecala msiri N e a v e
Bradypterus msiri N e a v e , Bull.Brit.Orn.Club, vol. xxv, 1909, p. 25:
M siri's village, Bunkeya R ., Shaba, Zaire. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced by P. A. Clancey 1 2 7
M A P I
The south-eastern quadrate of the Ethiopian Region show ing the disposition
of the subspecies of Bradypterus baboecala (Vieillot).
a . B.b.baboecala d . B.b.msiri b . B.b.tongensis e . B.b.centralis c . B.b.transvaalensis f . B.b.elgonensis Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced 1 2 8 Miscellaneous Taxonomic Notes on African Birds
Bradypterus bedfordi O gilvie-G rant, Ibis, 1912, p. 382: M babe=
M ababe Flats, northern Botswana.
Darker and more saturated on the dorsum than in the c a s e o f
B.b.transvaalensis, especially over the vertex, hind neck and m antle
centre (near to Sepia (pi. xxix)), the rum p and upp er tail-coverts
also darker red-brown. Below, darker over the sides and flanks,
but otherwise m uch as in transvaalensis, though somewhat greyer
white m edio-ventrally. W ings and tail darker.
Juvenile generally darker, m ore strongly yellowish below, and
with darker sides and flanks. Size closely sim ilar t o transvaalensis.
W ings of 20 54,5 - 61 (57,9), SD 1,75, SE 0,39, cul m ens 15 - 17,
(15,9), SD 0,62, SE 0,14, tails 60 - 71,5 (66,3), S D 3,08, SE 0,69 m m .
Material examined: 2 9 ( Botswana: Shorobe, Maun, Chanokhe
D rift (Botletle R .), K asane; C aprivi: Linyanti; Zam bia: Shangom bo,
N asiongo, S. K asiji R. (Balovale), L. M wange (Balov ale), Lungwe-
bungu R. (Balovale), Nkulwashi R. (Balovale), Kabet i (M ongu),
Kabompo Boma, Mutangini (Kabompo), Manyinga R. (Ang o l a
border), Luam ala R . at 27° 08' S., 14° 06' E ., L. L usiwashi (K abw e),
Cham beshi/Lubansenshi R. confl., M onongwa (Luwingu) , m outh of
Luapula R., opposite Kasenga (Luapula), Bulaya (M po r o k o s o ) ) .
Range: The Okavango Swamp and Botletle R. of Botswana,
north to Angola east of the range of B.b.benguellensis (Traylor,
Check-list of Angolan Birds, 1963, p. 145, lists it only from M acondo
in the extrem e east of Angola), Zam bia from Barotse land north to
M w inilunga, and east across the north of the territ ory to the Luapula
and N orthern Districts, Shaba, Zaire, and, probably , south-western
Tanzania. Intergrades with B.b.tongensis to the south-east of its
established range.
Remarks: Sepia top of head, hind neck and mantle centre dis
tinguishes this race from all others here considere d, which taxon
appears to be m ainly an endem ic of papyrus swam p. V entrally, the
colouration is m uch as in transvaalensis, being m edially w hiter than
in nominate baboecala a n d tongensis. The lower fore-throat is
usually distinctly streaked with dusky in contrast to the condition
present in tongensis.
THE SUBSPECIES OF THE BLACKCHESTED PRINIA
PRINIA FLAVICANS (VIEILLOT)
The Blackchested Prinia Prinia flavicans (Vieillot) of m uch of the
South W est Arid D istrict and som e adjacent areas of the Ethiopian Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated .) by Sabinet Reproduced