FURTHER ADDITIONS TO THE SINDII AVIFAUNA. Ill 



rock not completed, outside of which, in order to carry the 

 materials of the line through, a diversion has been carried, show- 

 ing below the Government road, a village, and in full view a 

 most grand and beautiful landscape made up by a fine stretch 

 of the river, in all its windings, studded with numerous islets 

 all covered with the evergreen tamarisk, the more distant ones 

 presenting quite a lawn-like appearance. This scene, with the 

 sun nearly set, and lighting up the town of Sehwan in the 

 distance, formed a very enjoj^able prospect, and was the talk 

 of more than one stranger who, like myself, travelled for the 

 first time along this portion of the line. 



Sehwan was reached after sun down. We remained for the 

 night at the station, dining, entirely upon preserved provisions, 

 (thanks to the ingenuity of man) in less than an hour after a 

 refreshing cold ablution. The cravings of the inner man satis- 

 fied, we set about making ourselves comfortable for the night, 

 and were soon in the arms of Morpheus dreaming of happy 

 events for the following day. 



A tolerable night's rest in a room inhabited by a large family 

 of Arachnids and overrun with Formica, large black soldiers, 

 with heads double the size of their bodies, left us recruited for 

 a forward journey after u Chota Hazree" 



Riding across a sandy plain covered with Glinus lotoides, 

 Capparis appylla, ffirua bovii, yE. lonata, and the ever recur- 

 ring Salvadora, we came on to the banks of the Aral and 

 encamped for a few hours under the shade of a grove of trees 

 made up of Acacia sirissa, Ficus religiosa, and the Neem, till 

 arrangements were made for a stay of a few days at Sehwan. 

 This completed, chiefly by the good offices of the Mookhtyar- 

 kar* of the station, we strolled during the afternoon along a 

 well-kept shady road leading to the Sehwan garden, enlisting 

 on the way the services of two beaters. We succeeded in bag- 

 ging a few Black Partridges, two good specimens of Brachyp- 

 ternus dilutus, and a novelty to the Ornis of Sindh in the shape 

 of Malacocercus malcolmi. 



On the following morning, 21st, we took a circuitous 

 ramble outside of Sehwan, and in the course of a few hours 

 made a very varied collection of birds — among them Oriolus 

 hundoo and Picus mahrattensis. We did Sehwan in four 

 days, adding to our collection 80 skins in all, comprising 

 Aquila fidvescens, Falco babylonicus, Athene brama, B. dilu- 

 tus, Ficus scindianus et mahrattensis, Chatarrhosa caudata, 

 M. malcolmi, Pycnonotus pusillus, Emberiza striolata, huttoni, 



* The native local Revenue officer, equivalent to Tehsildar in Upper India, 

 Mamlutdar in Bombay, &c. — A. O. H. 



