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ON THE BIRDS OF THE CHINDWIN, UPPER BURMA. 



By 



Major A. Mears, Survey of India, 

 and 



Eugene W. Oates, F.Z.S. 



The birds mentioned in this article were collected in the Upper and 

 Lower Chindwin Districts of Upper Burma during the months of 

 November to May of the years 1902 — 06. The area in which the 

 main portion of the collection was made, has for its limits on the north 

 the Sittaung-Tammu road to Mauipur ; on the south the Pakokku- 

 Lower Chindwin District boundary ; on the east the Chindwin River 

 and on the west the Kabaw-Kale-Myittha valleys. The country is 

 very sparsely inhabited and consists chiefly of Government Reserved 

 Forests containing large quantities of teak, pyinkadaw and other 

 valuable timber. The ground is hilly and broken ; two main ranges, 

 the Pondaung and Ponyadaung, traverse the area from north to south, 

 averaging about 3,000 feet above sea level and in places running 

 up to over 4,000 feet. Both these ranges and their offshoots are 

 densely wooded in spite of their slopes being often very precipitous 

 and scarped. Many of the ridges, more particularly in the north, are 

 almost razor edges falling abruptly away on both sides, and it is sur- 

 prising how any vegetation can take root or thrive on their nearly 

 perpendicular slopes. The undergrowth in the valleys is very heavy 

 and dense ; thick bamboo and cane jungle, evergreen forest and creepers 

 practically impassable except along game and other paths. Com- 

 munications in all but the extreme south are far from good ; there are 

 one or two fair bridle paths or trade routes leading from the Chind- 

 win into the Kale-Myittha valleys, but usually the beds of streams 

 serve the purpose of roads. Game is plentiful everywhere : elephant, 

 tiger, panther, and even an occasional rhinoceros are met with. Large 

 numbers of bison, tsine (the wild ox of Burma), sambhar, gee (barking- 

 deer), and in the more open parts, on the outskirts of cultivation, thamin 

 (the brow-antlered deer) are to be found. 



The climate is cool and pleasant from the middle of December to the 

 end of February when it begins to warm up, and the months of April 

 and May can be unpleasantly hot. Although somewhat feverish the 



