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Show 674 MR. H. J. ELW'ES ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [June 17, CENTRAL INDIA. Of Rajputana and Central India we know very little ; but a short paper by Dr. King in J. A. S. B. 1868, gives an account of the birds of Goona, which may be taken, in respect of climate and physical features, as a type of the north-western part of Central India. The elevation is from 1400-2000 feet; the rainfall from 40-50 inches; the jungle is thin, and vegetation poor, with but little cultivated land. Dr. King observed at Goona only 179 species, of which 116 were land-birds. No Hornbills occur but Meniceros bicornis ; no Barbets except Xantholeema indica ; only one Fruit-Pigeon, namely Crocopus phosnicopterus, and altogether but 32 species, which belong to genera characteristic of the Indo-Malay region generally *. OUDH. In Oudh the absence of many of the most wide-spread Indo- Malay genera is equally remarkable ; for, though we cannot suppose that Major Irby obtained nearly all the birds that occur there, his list (vide 'Ibis,' 1861, p. 217) only includes 219 species, of which 34 are Raptores, and 101 Grallae and Anseres. If we also deduct 23 species which were only found in the hills of Kumaon, there remain but 61 species observed during a space of nearly three years. The Indo-African forms are in many cases unaccountably absent, no species of Prinia, Pyrrhulauda, Saxicola, or Certhilauda being recorded. Perhaps this is only because they were less noticed by Major Irby than the waterfowl and birds of prey, which, in the plains about Etawah, between Agra and Cawnpoor, I can say, from personal observation, are the most conspicuous and abundant birds. Mr. Brooks has found a large number of Warblers in this district; but most of them are only there during the cold season, retiring to the Himalaya to breed. PUNJAUB. I am sorry I can give no analysis of the birds of the Punjaub ; no list has, as far as I know, ever been published. Dr. Jerdon knew less of it than of any part of India ; and I hope that Mr. H u m e will ere long fill the blank which exists by giving us an account of bis extensive and unequalled collections in that province. In the far north west, however, and especially on the other side of the Indus, * Since this was written an excellent list of the birds found in the neighbourhood of the Sambhur lake by Mr. A d a m has appeared in ' Stray Feathers,' pt. 5. No less than 242 species are noticed, of which, however, few are rare or in any way remarkable. Salpornis spilonota, a bird which seems to have a wide range through the dry jungles of Central India, is noted; also some Woodpeckers, such as Chrysocolaptes and Brachypternus, and two species of Fruit- Pigeons (Crocopus). Representatives of nearly all the common Indian genera are here, as well as a proportion of Pala;artic ones. O n the whole the list fully bears out the conclusions already arrived at, and shows that the Sambhur lake, which is about 170 miles west of Agra, is near the western limit of the Indian province proper. |