THE MAHANADI AND GODAVARI RIVERS. 411 



three species are mentioned, which I have not already recorded 

 from the Chutia Nagpur, Sambalpur or Orissa areas. "What 

 I have to say refers, therefore, chiefly to facts in reference to 

 habits and distribution. Regarding' the greater number of the 

 species collected, there is nothing particular to record, and I 

 simply retain a list of them, with a view to the possible prepa- 

 ration hereafter of a complete list of the Avifauna of the 

 area. 



The route traversed was as follows : — Leaving Cuttack I 

 marched along the southern bank of the Mahanadi to Sonpur, 

 in the Sambalpur district ; thence I continued westwards 

 across the so-called Dak in Tir towards Bodosamar, from which 

 I turned southwards traversing Patna, Karial and Kalahandi. 

 At the southern point of Kalahandi I ascended to the Jaipur 

 Plateau by a steep and difficult ghat upwards of 1,000 feet 

 high. From Jaipur I paid a flying visit to Bustar, the capital 

 town of which, Jagdalpur, is situated on the same general 

 stretch of plateau as Jaipur. I then turned northwards through 

 Nowagarh to Raipur. and from Raipur marched to Nagpur, 

 arriving there in about six months after the date of my 

 departure from Cuttack. 



Anything like a complete physical description of this 

 extensive area would form an unsuitable prelude to the brief 

 notes on the birds which follow. It will be sufficient to state 

 here that the greater portion of the area is hilly, the highlands, 

 including small plateaus, which rise to from 2,000 to 4,000 feet 

 above the sea, with here and there, in the Eastern Ghats, peaks 

 that rise 1,000 feet higher. To a great extent the slopes of these 

 hills and plateaus are clothed with a dense primary forest, which 

 in certain places, especially towards the south, consists almost 

 exclusively of magnificent Sal. Teak also occurs, but it is 

 confined to very limited tracts. "What the factors may be 

 which have determined this limited distribution I am unable 

 to say; but it is certainly not attributable to local peculiarities 

 of geological structure or soil ; separated by wide intervals, there 

 are a few grassy plains which afford suitable feeding grounds 

 for species of Chcelornis, Cisticola, Emberiza, Calandrella, Munia, 

 Estrelda, Ploceus, &c. 



Except iu the Dakin Tir of Sambalpur, tanks of sufficient 

 size and number to attract birds are seldom met with, and the 

 rivers during the dry season contain but little water. Hence 

 it followed that I met with but few water birds. 



Diurnal Raptores were very scarce, but of Owls I observed 

 a good number of species. The most interesting bird in my 

 collection belongs to this class. It is a male of the species 

 first described by Mr. Hume under the title Hcteroglaux blewitli. 



b3 



