[en] Average elastic photon scattering cross sections were measured for ²⁰⁹Bi, ²⁰⁸Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb, ²⁰⁶Pb, Tl and Hg at excitation energies between 4.5 MeV and the neutron emission threshold, with an energy resolution in the range between 50 and 150 keV. This resolution was sufficient to determine the strengths of most of the strong levels in this energy region for ²⁰⁸Pb; there are concentrations of strength in a few levels near 5.5 and 7 MeV with the sum of B(E1) up-arrow values equal to about 0.84 and 0.65 e² fm², respectively; each of these two groups of levels corresponds to only about 0.63% of the electric dipole sum rule. In the neighboring isotopes, approximately the same amount of strength is distributed among many more energy levels; although this strength is spread in energy more than it is in ²⁰⁸Pb, it remains relatively localized