2 THE SARUS. 
The Sarus fs very rare in Sind, even east of the Indus; and, 
so far as I know, does not occur west of this river at all. 
Burnes remarked that he had occasionally seen it on the Indus, 
but never in Afghanistan. ? 
In the Punjab it is found in the Dehli, Gurgaon, Kurnal, 
Umballa, Gurdaspur and Lahore Districts, in fact as far west 
as the Ravee, but not, so far as I know, in the Rohtak, Hissar, 
Sirsa or Ferozpur districts, nor south of Ferozpur, anywhere 
between the Satlej and the Indus, nor west of the Indus. Its 
distribution southwards is not at present well defined. It does 
not seem to occur at all in Mysore* nor in any of the Madras 
districts south of this, nor has it ever been recorded from 
Ceylon. Probably a line drawn from Damaun on the west, 
to Masulipatam on the east coast, would approximately indi- 
cate the southern limits of its range in the Indian Peninsula. 
It does not normally ascend the mountains, but in places, as 
in the valley of Nepal, has been introduced. In Kulu also 
Mr. Graham Young says it used to breed, but is now, he believes, 
extinct. Into Kulu likewise it must have been introduced. 
Dr. Anderson obtainedt this species in Upper or Independent 
Burma; but, with this exception, it is not as yet Zxowx to occur 
outside the limits of our Indian Empire, though it may prove 
to extend to Siam (as Blyth asserts,[ but without quoting 
any authority,) and South-western China. 
THE SARUS is essentially a bird of widely-extended and well- 
watered plains. Hilly and broken country on the one hand, 
and sandy, waterless tracts (like many portions of North- 
western Rajputana) on the other, it equally eschews. It 
much prefers the neighbourhood of cultivation ; but it may be 
found far away from this in places where wide level plains are 
watered by streams or rivers, or dotted about with ponds or 
lakes. 
Water in some abundance it must have; and, though not in 
any degree normally migratory in India, it will, in years of great 
drought, desert whole districts where it is ordinarily plentiful. 
* Major Charles Mc. Inroy says (writing from Mysore) :— 
** As far as my knowledge goes-—and I know Mysore pretty well—the Sarus ever 
comes down here, nor did I ever see or hear of it south of the Gddavari. North 
of the Nirmul jungle, and thence towards Kamptee, is the furthest southerly point 
at which it occurs to my knowledge.” 
+ Dr. Anderson obtained specimens at Tsit Kaw. He is also of opinion that 
he saw huge flocks of this Crane (Zool. Yunan Exp. 684) flying overhead when 
he was encamped at Ponsee. This is remarkable, as this species is not known to be 
migratory, nor even, when in large parties, to fly in V-shaped flocks, as he describes 
those seen by him to have done. 
+ Blyth also mentions that Cantor procured it in Wellesley Province. If so, it 
must have been a domesticated specimen. We have explored, not only Wellesley 
Province, but the native states all round, without ever even hearing of the bird, 
of which the Malays, who are keenly observant of birds, would have been sure to 
speak and tell stories, did it really ever occur there. 
