Ill 



THE BROWN ROCK-CHAT 



THE standard books on Indian ornithology 

 give inaccurate accounts of the distribution 

 of some species of birds. In certain cases 

 the mistakes are due to imperfect know- 

 ledge, in others it is probable that the range of the 

 species in question has undergone change since the 

 text-books were published. There must of necessity 

 be a tendency for a flourishing species to extend its 

 boundaries. Growing species, like successful nations, 

 expand. A correspondent informs me that the 

 Brahminy myna {Temenuchus pagodarum) is now a 

 regular visitor at Abbottabad and Taran Taran in the 

 Punjab, whereas Jerdon states that the bird is not 

 found to the west of the United Provinces. Similarly, 

 there is evidence that the red turtle dove [CEnopopelia 

 tranquebarica) is extending its range westwards. Gates 

 states that the tailor-bird (Orthotomus sutorius) does not 

 occur at elevations over 4000 feet, but I frequently 

 saw it at Coonoor, 2000 feet higher than the limit set 

 by Gates. 



The brown rock-chat (Cercomela fusca) is another 

 species regarding the distribution of which the text- 

 books are in error. Jerdon gives its range as " Saugor, 



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