220 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
such as Alauda dulcivox, Anthus s. blakistoni, Calandrella m. heinei, Caprimulgus 
e. zarudny?, Falcow. pallidus, ete., while there is no definite evidence of any 
coming from the far north-west. 
As one might expect from the character of the country some genera and fami- 
lies are well represented while others are not, thus the Gulls, Terns and Waders 
are to the fore, as also are the desert birds, while Shrikes, Larks and Wheatears 
can claim at least eight forms each ; Woodpeckers, Creepers, Tree Nut-hatches 
are as to be expected quite absent and of the Tits one species is found in 
one corner only and another (Anthoscopus) is a rare visitor. It is somewhat 
curious considering the abundant food supply during the war that Vultures 
should be so scarce ; only two species occur with any regularity and then not 
commonly. 
Part of Mesopotamia has, of course, only emerged from the sea within historical 
times as already explained, but it is somewhat remarkable that so few forms 
have segregated out into recognizable geographical races more or less peculiar 
to the country and it shews what a long period of colonization is necessary some- 
times for differentiation to take place, thus the Prinia, Pica, Sarcogrammus 
Porphyrio, Alemon, Crateropus caudatus, Coracias benghalensis and probably the 
Cisticola are in no way differentiated from the Indo-Baluchi forms, while the 
Ammomanes, Passer domesticus and Passer moabiticus are in no way separable 
from the Palestine forms. Of European forms we have Sterna minuta, Hirundo 
rustica, Riparia riparia, Aigialitis curonica and alexandrinus and Hypolais, 
eleica but most of these are of wide distribution and great migrants. So far as 
we know, the only species which have segregated out into recognisable races are 
Ammoperdix griseogularis, Francolinus vulgaris, Corvus capellanus, Alectoris 
greca and Pycnonotus leucotis, but the last two are not entirely confined to Meso- 
potamia, while the only species entirely peculiar to the country are Acrocephalus 
babylonicus and Crateropus altirostris. 
Altogether one may say that Mesopotamia has an avifauna of peculiar interest, 
and that in spite of the opinion of some, in few places does the study of geogra- 
phical races tend to throw so great a light on the components of an avifauna as 
here. Is it of no interest to ‘know whence the migrants come and from what 
direction these plains have received their now resident species? 
Two districts call for special comment ; Urfa in the far north-west and the 
Karun district in the south-east. 1 have included all species noted at Urfa by 
Weigold for comparison, though it is beyond the area proper dealt with in this 
paper, and it is of interest as shewing apparently the western limit of some 
species on passage, such as the Wood and Bonelli’s Warblers, the Collared 
Flycatcher, etc. and, taking the determinations of his racial forms to be correct, 
the western limit of some races which in our area are represented by more 
eastern races ; as these are fully noted in the letter-press they need not be 
detailed here. 
As regards the Karun district we have only the bare statements of Zarudny 
concerning the status of the various species found there ; these I have alluded to 
where necessary, but it is to be noted that in many cases the status he gives does 
not agree with those given by our observers in lower Mesopotamia, in that he 
frequently records a species as a winter visitor of which we have no records in 
winter at all. Future investigation is necessary to shew whether some of the 
these, which otherwise are not known to winter north of Africa do find the Karun 
district tempting enough to stay their passage further south or not. Several 
other species are included on the strength of Zarudny’s records alone, not having 
been so far met with elsewhere ; I do not of course vouch for Zarudny’s state- 
ments. 
It may perhaps be of some interest to give alist shewing the approximate 
status of the species in each order ; our present knowledge does not admit of an 
exact list and of course some species might be placed in more than one category. 
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