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Show 1873.] DISTRIBUTION OF ASIATIC BIRDS. 673 CENTRAL PROVINCES. The next division of the Indian province to which I must refer is that called by Mr. Blanford the Gangetic subprovince, which comprises that part of India politically known as the Central Provinces, as well as Malwa, Bundelcund, and Chota Nagpore. This part of India is more difficult to divide in a zoological sense than any other, its border-lands being not only very vague, but so similar to the surrounding countries, that it is perhaps hardly worthy of separation. Physically it differs from the Deccan in being a far more jungly country, what is termed jungle in India being rather a low and open forest of thorny trees than a real forest such as is found in Malabar or the Himalayas. There is, however, a great deal of heavy timber on its eastern half, especially on the Godavery river and in Chota Nagpore. From Bengal it differs in being for the most part an uncultivated country, and, though nowhere what would be called in India mountainous, is very different in its appearance from the flat and highly cultivated plains of the Ganges valley. As, however, Mr. Blanford has a greater personal knowledge of this part of India than of any other, it is most likely that he is correct in considering it a subprovince of the Indian province, and I will now endeavour to distinguish between the component parts of its avifauna. From papers published in the J. A. S. B. by Mr. Blanford and Col. M'Master, we get a sufficient number of birds to work upon; but it must be understood that these lists only apply to the neighbourhood of Chandah and Nagpore, in the south-western part of the district. They contain about 190 species of land-birds, which I arrange as follows :- Birds of very wide range in Europe, Asia, and Africa 38 Belonging to genera of very wide range, but either confined to India or very nearly so 57 Birds belonging to genera common to tropical Africa and India 35 Birds of African type 8 Birds belonging to Indo-Malayan genera 53 Or, taking them from another point of view :- per cent. Birds belonging to very wide-ranging genera . 9 8 51 Birds belonging to Indo-African genera .... 40 21 Birds belonging to Indo-Malay genera .... 53 28 Having myself but very little knowledge of this part of India, I will say no more about it, but will refer my readers who may wish to know more to Mr. Blanford's papers in J. A. S. B. 1869, p. 165; 1870, p. 335; 1871, p. 268; also to a paper read at the Meeting of the British Association in 1869, " O n the Fauna of British India," where an opinion is expressed which I think Mr. Blanford has since changed, viz. that the fauna of the Himalayas is purely Malay. PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1873, No. XLIII. 43 |
