1116 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIl^TY, Vol. XXL 



however, that it may hereafter be found to occur in the country 

 immediately East of Assam. " 



To this, in a footnote, Hume adds that it is certainly to be found 

 as far west as Nuddea. 



Roughly speaking, this beautiful Bustard is confined to the grass 

 land area North and East of the Ganges and on either side of the 

 Brahmapootra ; outside of this it is but a straggler. My furthest 

 record South-East is from the district of Chittagong, whilst in the 

 Assam Valley it extends to the extreme Eastern limit of the grass 

 lands and churs bordering the Dihong, Dibong and Brahmapootra 

 Rivers running right up to the very foot of the Hills, both to East 

 and North. It is found in the Terai in some numbers, wherever 

 the country is suitable, and in the same way throughout the Dooars, 

 South of Nepal and Bhutan. In Assam it is common in many 

 districts and extends all through the Assam Valley from Rungpur 

 and Goalpara to Dibrugarh. From the Surma Valley it is shut out 

 by the G*o, Cachar and Khasia Hills, and though it is common in 

 parts of Nowgong to the North of these ranges it is of extreme rarit)- 

 anywhere to the South of them. I have shot three birds, all young 

 females, in Cachar, and have seen two specimens from Sylhet. Hume 

 records it from Tippera in 1902, and finally I have received a 

 specimen from Chittagong. But these few instances are scattered 

 over a period of over 25 years and merely emphasize the fact of 

 their great rarity, South of the Brahmapootra Valley. 



As Col. Graham gave such a detailed account of the numbers in 

 which the Florican was to be found in former times in each Assam 

 district, it may be as well here to give also an idea as to how they 

 are now distributed. Col. Graham writes : " The Bengal Florican 

 may be said to extend throughout the Assam Valley, from the 

 Manas River, on the West, to the Mishmi Hills, East of Sadiya, on 

 the East. 



" It is found in greatest numbers in high and dry open lands, 

 the places most frequented by it being the large Bishnath plain 

 and the higher lands lying between the Government Trunk Road 

 on the North of Brahmapootra, and the hills throughout the Darrang 

 districts. 



" North of Mangaldai, in Darrang, about five miles from the 



