STRAY FEATHERS. 
Vol. XJ JULY 1882. [No. 4. 
A ist of the Birds of Pegu. 
By Evcene W. Oatss. 
Tue ornithology of a portion of Pegu was dealt with by 
Mr. Hume in a former volume of Stray Feraruers (III, pp. 
1—194), and subsequently, (LV, pp. 295—451) Dr. Armstrong 
gave us a list of the birds met with by him in the deltaic 
portion of the province. The following paper is an attempt 
to compile a complete list of the birds of the whole of Pegu. 
The area now dealt with is bounded on the north by the 
frontier line separating British from Independent Burma, 
and running east and west at about the latitude of 19° 40’ 
north; on the east the boundary is the Sittang river; on 
the west, the Irrawaddy river, and its most westerly discharge 
channel, the Bassein creek. The sea forms the southern limit 
of the area. The province, as thus defized, is about 300 miles 
in length, by an average breadth of about 100 miles. 
The Pegu hills run down the centre of this tract of country 
from the frontier to Rangoon, or for about 200 miles. They 
extend laterally nearly down to the banks of the Irrawaddy 
and Sittang rivers, leaving a comparatively narrow belt only 
of level or undulating country along the margins of these 
two rivers. The remaining portion is a vast plain, little, or not 
at all, elevated above high water of spring sides. 
The hills are covered with dense forest, and an undergrowth 
of shrubs and canes. On the eastern side the vegetation is 
very luxuriant, and mostly evergreen. On the western side, 
it is composed of trees which appear to do with less moisture, 
and the undergrowth is less dense. The difference in the 
rainfall between the two sides of the hills is probably 30 inches. 
A vast number of birds are found on the eastern slopes which 
are never seen on the western. 
The vast plains which occupy the southern third of the 
province are, where not cultivated, covered with elephant 
grass and reeds. The plain is everywhere intersected by 
tidal channels, and is more or less permanently flooded during 
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