402 Capt. R. C. Beavan on various Indian Birds. 



specimens have already reached England ; others are on their 

 way, and the rest I have still by me. 



By way of preface to the notes, it may not be out of place to 

 give a slight sketch of Maunbhoom, the district in which the 

 majority of the specimens were collected, and in which I am 

 professionally engaged with the Second Bengal Division of the 

 Revenue Survey. It is a tract of country of some 5000 to 6000 

 square miles in extent, forming a portion of the province of 

 Chota Nagpore, which, besides it, includes Singbhoom, Hazaree- 

 baugh, and the other districts of what formerly was the Agency 

 of the South-west Frontier. Maunbhoom appears to be a name 

 only given of late years to this district, from one of its pergun- 

 nahs. It is bounded on the north by Hazareebaugh, on the east 

 by Beerbhoom and Bancoorah, on the south by Midnapore, and 

 on the west by Singhbhoom and the large tract of wild and 

 jungly country which extends for miles in that direction. 



The general aspect of Maunbhoom is quite distinct from 

 that of Lower Bengal. The low alluvial plains of the Ganges 

 and Hoogly are here replaced by an elevated plateau gradually 

 rising from Midnapore and Bancoorah, until it reaches its great- 

 est culminations in the offshoots of the great Vindhyan range 

 near Hazareebaugh, and the high tableland of Chota Nagpore 

 (Dorundah) 1200 to 2000 feet above the sea. The highest 

 peaks are those of Parisnath (just outside the Maunbhoom Dis- 

 trict) and Dulma, which attain an elevation, the former of 4348 

 feet, and the latter of 3049 feet. The general elevation of the 

 district must, I fancy, be from 500 to 800 feet above the sea-level. 

 It is essentially a country of rocks : hills crop out in various direc- 

 tions, sometimes singly, sometimes in masses, composed almost 

 entirely of the primary igneous rocks in a high state of con- 

 tortion, — granite, gneiss, quartz, and other metamorphic rocks 

 forming the principal groups. 



The rivers are clear hill-streams with rocky beds, here and 

 there flowing over a sandy bottom which frequently contains 

 gold. Filled in a few hours by heavy rain, they become impass- 

 able, but as quickly subside; and in the hot months the 

 water in places entirely disappears below the sand. Minerals, 

 as may be expected, are abundant : iron is found everywhere y 



