108 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. X 



NOTES ON SOME BIRDS FROM THE RUBY MINES 



DISTRICT, BURMA. 



By Eugene W. Oates. 



{Read before the Bombay Natural History Society on 19th Sept., 1.895.) 



During a tour of inspection of the buildings and roads in the Ruby 

 Mines District last April, I made a note of all the birds I was able to 

 procure or observe ; and a list of them will, no doubt, be of interest. 

 No one has yet collected in this particular locality which, by reason of 

 its elevation, is likely to yield good results. The birds I now record 

 are very few in number, but many of them are of great rarity, and the 

 range of others has been very considerably extended to the east. 



The Ruby Mines District lies to the east of the Irrawaddy river 

 and between the Mandalay and Bhamo Districts. A road leads from 

 the left bank of the Irrawaddy to Mogoke, the head-quarters of the 

 district, a distance of sixty miles. At the fortieth mile a branch road 

 leads to Bemardmyo, a small cantonment garrisoned by British troops. 

 This branch road is twenty miles in length. Bernardmyo and Mogoke 

 are connected by a mule track ten miles long. 



The birds I am about to record were obtained or noticed in the 

 triangle, of which the corners are represented by Kabein at the fortieth 

 mile, Bernardmyo and Mogoke. This triangle is very mountainous and 

 varies from about 4,000 to 7,500 feet in elevation. Toung-may or the 

 Black Mountain is the highest point, and lies between Bernardmyo and 

 Mogoke. I passed over the spurs of this mountain, but I had no time 

 to collect birds. It appeared to me to be one of the best collecting 

 grounds I have ever seen, being densely wooded with abundance of 

 water. 



Mogoke is a large and prosperous town, lying in a valley and entirely 

 given up to ruby mining. All other industries appear to be neglected 

 and the necessaries of life command very high prices. Any three men 

 combining together can get a small grant of land for sixty rupees a 

 month to dig for rubies. The whole operation consists in sinking a well 

 till the ruby-bearing stratum of earth (of a peculiar yellowish colour) 

 is reached and in washing the earth. Three men are necessary for well 

 sinking, and a license is not issued to a smaller party. Well-sinking 

 is the usual method adopted by the natives in their search for rubies ; 



