THE BIRDS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 2138 
accomplished would only produce a list which in a short time would 
be “‘ out-of-date ” again! However it is to be hoped that the nomen- 
clature here used will at all events be understood by everyone and that 
after all is the only object of Latin nomenclature. 
In working out the collections, I am greatly indebted to the facil- 
ities given me by the authorities at the British Museum (Natural 
History) and especially to Mr. N. B. Kinnear for the assistance he has 
given me in many ways. My thanks are due to Captains P. A. Buxton 
and J. Armstrong for the use of their collections, to Mr. Jourdain for 
notes on Mesopotamian eggs in his collection and to Miss M. Shopland, 
Miss D. Smith and Mr. F. W. Smalley for kind help in typing the 
manuscript. 
The total number of specimens from all sources available for exami- 
nation is about 2,500 comprising 241 species out of the 330 species 
known to occur. 
C. B. TICEHURST. 
LowestorT, ENGLAND, 
March 1st, 1921. 
INTRODUCTION. 
1. GrocrarHy.—-The Mesopotamian plain, by which we mean that part of 
Mesopotamia which, between Fao in the extreme south and Fatah Gorge (where 
the Jebel Hamrin range crosses the Tigris) north of Baghdad, lies between the 
latter range on the east and the edge of the Syrian desert on the west, is remark- 
able above all things for its uniformity, or as some might put it, its extreme 
monotony. As one passes from Fao up the Shatt-al-Arab, there is seen what at 
first looks like a forest of date palms bordering the river banks ; but where here 
and there a peep beyond is obtained, one realizes the “ forest” is only a belt of 
trees a few yards up to two miles wide beyond which seems limitless mud desert. 
The uniformity of the land is essentially due to geological causes ; the whole 
area is rich alluvial soil and consists of very fine silt brought down through long 
ages from the highlands of Eastern Asia Minor, Armenia and N. W. Persia. Over 
the country this silt has been spread to a depth of hundreds of feet and it follows 
therefore that underlying rocks exercise no influence on either the fauna or the 
flora. The surface of this alluvial deposit is practically flat except where it has 
been disturbed by the hand of man. This flatness is so extreme that it must 
be seen to be realized, but we may mention that the altitude of Baghdad is 112 
feet above sea level though its distance from the sea is 360 miles, and Samarra 
420 miles from the coast is but 200 feet in elevation ; were the Kew flagstaff to be 
erected at Fao, the flag would float above the level of the entire Mesopotamian 
plain. On the very rough quarter inch maps, which were in use during the war, 
small mounds were marked, and their heights relative to the plain, were it only 
three or four feet, were indicated. 
Through this alluvial plain run the two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, 
with their tributaries, e.g., the Karun in the south and the Dyala in the north, 
both loaded with silt at the time of the annual high water in the month of April. 
At this season the water of the rivers tends to overflow the whole country and 
much of it is led away over the surface of the ground for irrigation ; most of the 
silt which it carries is deposited fairly near the rivers, and it therefore happens 
that the land nearest the river is generally very slightly higher than the land 
further from it. Long ago the waters of the Tigris entered the sea at a place 
