336 Mr. F. Lewis on the Lund-birds of 



conditions o£ forest distribution are also to some extent 

 affected. 



Taking the general physical conformity of Sabaragamuwa 

 as a whole, it may be regarded as very mountainous over 

 two-thirds of its entire area, the flat country being mostly 

 to the south and nearest the sea, while the hill-ranges begin 

 rapidly to rise from Ratnapura, the chief town of the 

 province, both to the east, north, and north-west ; but in 

 making this general statement it must not be supposed that 

 all the hill-ranges radiate from the spot mentioned. The 

 great mountain-zone that divides the Sabaragamuwa Province 

 from the Central Province may be said to take its rise from 

 the bottom of the valley through which the Kalani river 

 forces its way into the lower plains, and rapidly rises until it 

 reaches Adam^s Peak, comprising within that area the wettest 

 part of Ceylon. From Adam's Peak a continuous high 

 altitude is maintained towards the east, where vast precipices 

 are found, around which some of the most curious variations 

 of vegetable life occur. The hills then undulate a little to 

 the north, when the Horton-Plain country is reached, and 

 the basin of the Belihuloya stream terminates the province- 

 boundary to the east, after which the Uva Province takes up 

 the continuation of the great hill-zone. 



The high rainfall already referred to of necessity gives rise 

 to a great number of streams that in turn form rivers 

 of considerable magnitude. None of these rivers are, 

 within the province under description, subject to tidal action, 

 but all of them, during the period of high rainfall, overflow 

 their banks, causing (except in the case of the Wallawey 

 river that flows for the greatest part of its entire length 

 through the " Bintenna," or dry zone) floods over large 

 portions of the country. 



The wet forests, or areas in which the mean humidity is high, 

 contain by far the largest proportion of vegetable life, and 

 it is here that the greatest profusion of birds may naturally 

 be expected to occur, but such is not the case as regards 

 species. Numerically the individuals in the wet forests may 

 be abundant, but for variety of species the dry zone has the 



