366 AVIFAUNA OF CHOTA NAGPUR. 



Those who scoff at Specialists, and they are not a few, forget 

 that it is these men who supply the reliable data from which phw 

 losophical naturalists like Dr. Darwin evolve the theories. 



Accurate determination of species is as important for the 

 naturalist who theorises on the origin of specific forms or the 

 distribution of life on the globe, as a knoAvledge of the deriva- 

 tion of words is for the comparative philologist. 



If the identification of the species, or the supposed derivation 

 of the word be not sound, then all theories dependent on these 

 data, these bricks so to speak of the theoretical edifice, must 

 necessarily be unstable. 



Flora. — Having some years ago made a study of the flora 

 of the Manbhum and Hazaribagh districts, and as with the 

 exception of a slight change, which is observable in some of 

 the higher and moister districts of the west, the same plants 

 are found throughout the Division. I shall quote a few general 

 remarks from my published observations* : — 



lt Dr. Hooker first drew attention to the park-like aspect 

 which prevails in the drier and clearer portions of these districts. 

 Bassia, the tamarind, the several species of Ficus, Butea and 

 Shorea, representing, without any great stretch of the imagina- 

 tion being necessary, the Oaks, Pines, Sycamores, Maples and 

 Poplars of temperate climes. 



" It is only in the hills and some of the deeper valleys that 

 one meets with anything like typical tropical jungle; even in 

 these comparatively favorable localities there are no tree- 

 fernsf nor palms, and but few mosses, orchids, or herbaceous 

 ferns. 



ci Contrasting the flora in detail with that of the British Isles, 

 one is struck by the absence of plants belonging to such 

 common orders, as Rosacea,^ Cruciferce, Gerniaceee, Fiolacece and 

 the rareness of species belonging to Ranunculaceai, Vmhelliferm 

 and Scrojjhularinecs. 



" On the other hand many of the pond weeds, Chara, Nymphoea, 

 Potomogeton, Jlisma, &c, as well as grasses, Cyperus, ferns — 

 Drosera, Arums, Oralis, Mistletoe, some of the smaller Labiata^ 

 and both herbaceous and arboreal forms of Leguminosaa, together 

 with a SalLv vividly recall their European congeners. Lichens 

 might be added to this list. It is interesting to observe that 



* J. A. S. B., Vol. XXXVIII, 1869, Pt. II, p 112. 



f Further examination of the western parts may reveal, in some of the valleys, the 

 presence of tree-ferns. I recently found that several species were known to occur 

 in the vicinity of Pachmari. 



X Long after this was written I found a species of Rose on the banks of the 

 Mahan in iiirguja and a small Geranium among the alpine plants of Parisnath. 



