THE BHIMRAJ 225 



into seven species. Under the trinomial 

 system of nomenclature adopted by him, 

 the bird known as Bhimraj in Bengal 

 has received the appellation Dissemurus 

 paradiseus grandis. 



Its range may roughly be said to 

 extend over all the forest-regions of In- 

 dia, Burma, and Ceylon. All 

 Distribu- ^j^g birds have a crest, and two 



tion 



racket-like tail-feathers, but both 

 are shorter in the South-Indian and 

 Tenasserim specimens. 



The Bhimraj is found in lower Bengal 

 and the Sunderbans, in Central India, 

 Orissa, Chota Nagpur, and Assam. From 

 Khandesh all along the Western Ghats 

 up to Travancore it is numerous, but the 

 birds of the Deccan are smaller than 

 those of Northern India. Along the Eastern 

 sides of the Peninsula, however, the Bhimraj 

 is comparatively rare. Ceylon is inhabited 

 by the Peninsular form of the bird. From 

 India its range extends eastwards to 

 Burma, and through Tenasserim to Siam 



15 



