410 Birds in Sanskrit Literature snow with a rosy sunset glow upon it, then as one approaches, the snow suddenly melts into a flaming scarlet as the birds unfold their wings and sail away. When just moving from one feeding ground to another they adopt no particular formation but when in full flight form into either a wide V or a long waving ribbon." Their food consists chiefly of minute vegetable matter and to some extent of tiny animal organisms, crustacea, mullusca, etc. found in the mud of fresh and salt water lakes and lagoons. When feeding, the bird wades in a regular line with others of its kind, and bending down its long neck and head between the legs, uses its inverted bill like a shovel in which to catch and collect its food. This it obtains by moving the head backwards and forwards or from side to side and gently stirring up the mud which is sifted through the seive- like bill. Then it erects its long neck to swallow the selected food. 5. To the bird's peculiar method of feeding the the Prakrit and Hindi languages owe the picturesque terms and for the country-gardener's shadoof or simple water-lever commonly seen working at a water-hole or crude well. It consists of two posts supporting a cross beam at the top with a bucket suspended from the longer end and a counterpoise at the other. Not much of imagination is required to see that the contrivance works exactly like a Flamingo as it feeds. Prakrit means are, a female Flamingo (fem. of बलाक) and टेंका a 'water-lift' defined as कूपतुला in देशीनाममाला of हेमचन्द्र. Now this कूपतुला pair of scales at a well') is none other than the water-lever described above. Prakrit ; , are the same as Sanskrit equated with , viz., the White Ibis and a Stork (Arts. 80, 81). Ter, as we shall see, is the Flamingo defined loosely as 'a sort of or Stork'. The feminine of बक is बकी and of बलाक, बलाका. Closely associated with the picture described here and lending considerable support to it is the Hindi name ( in the Pujnab, fr. Sansk. W pendent, but 'long in Hindi with the Flamingo. , 'the tall or long Stork-like bird') for 1. Writing earlier S. Baker made the following remarks about these remarkable birds: "Flying or wading they are a lovely sight, and, often as they have been described, no one has yet been able to do justice to their beauty." Again, "Typically their flight is dis- tinctly anserine, not perhaps exactly V-shape, but more in the form of a curved ribbon, the ends fluttering backwards and forwards as the birds, more especially those at the two extre- mes, alter their position." On shorter flights the birds rise in one indiscriminate mass and continue as they have risen. (Indian Ducks and Their Allies, 1908). "To witness the simultaneous unfolding of a thousand lovely crimson and black pinions under brilliant sunlight is a sight the recollection of which will not readily be effaced from our memories" (Eagle Clarke, quoted, ibid. page 5). These extracts fully bear out the appreciative references to Flamingos (flying en masse or in formation) in Sanskrit literature of a thousand to two thousand years ago. 2. Compare 'crane' as a machine, so named after the bird with the long neck. 3. The term for the Egrets is a free and is always in the feminine gender, but areT for the female flamingo is the feminine of er for the male. Flamingos 411 6. In the following lexical synonymies, which are mostly of a mixed character, the terms , बलाक, बक and मृणालकण्ठ refer to the male Flamingo, and बलाका, मेघानन्दा and दीर्घकन्धरा to the female. बलाका in a special sense means also 'a flight of Flamingos in formation', described also as बलाकमाला or बकपंक्ति: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) क्रुद्ध कौश: – अमर, अभिधानचिन्तामणि अथाऽपस्वर: श्रीच: क्रुझ स्यात् पंक्तिचरः पुनः । शरत्पक्षी वक्रचञ्चू रक्तको रात्रिजागरः ॥ शेवलादः पुण्डरीकनयनः– कल्पद्रुकोश, -p. 329, verses 107-108 मृणालकण्ड (? कण्ठ ) काकस्तु बलाक: स्यात् - Ibid. बलाका विषकण्ठी स्वाच्छुष्काङ्गी दीर्घकन्धरा । घर्मान्तकामुक्की श्वेता मेघानन्दा जलाश्रया ॥ - राजनिघण्टु बलाका बकपङक्तिः स्यात् बलाका बिसकण्ठिका । बलाका कामुकी प्रोक्ता बलाकश्च बको मतः ॥ विश्वशाश्वतौ Reserving the terms and for discussion a little later let us take up the other names and adnouns for the Flamingo. Except for at the remaining terms in (ii) above refer to our bird as a bird of the autumn (शरत्पक्षी), flying in formation (पंक्तिचर ), having red in the plumage and a bent bill (,), living on minute water-plants (a) and wary or wakeful at night (fr). This last trait of the bird has been brought out by Salim Ali in his Article on the Flamingo in J.B. N. H. S., XLV, page 589, and S. Baker also describes it as "extremely wary and cute". बिस and मृणाल are different parts of the lotus plant both in चरक and सुश्रुत (चरक, 6.21.78 & 82; , 1.21.23 and 6.46.17), the former is the white root, the same as Hindi free or fe and the latter the Tor the long stalk of the lotus flower. The मुणालकण्ठ काक (काक i.e. जलकाक, water-bird) in (iii) equated with is the long-necked Flamingo, while art of the equa- tion "बलाका बिसकण्ठिका" of कल्पद्रु., अमर and other lexicons is the pure white Egret which too has a comparatively long and white neck. ar like s 1. Quoted in the commentary on उणादि सूत्र "बलाकादयश्च", 462, at page 524 of सिद्धान्तकौमुदी with तत्त्वबोधिनी व्याख्या, Nirnayasagar edition, 1908, and attributed to विश्व- are though the editions of these two lexicons issued by the Chowkhamba Office, Banaras and the Oriental Book Agency, Poona, respectively do not have this verse. The ओणादिक पदार्णव of पेरुमूरि, Madras, 1999, however, gives the following बलाकाबकपंक्ती च बिसकण्ठ्यां च वर्तते। कामुक्यामप्यच पुमान् बलाको बकपक्षिणि ।। 4.69-70. 2. If बिस and मुणाल are identical it is posible to take बिसकण्ठ and मृणालकण्ठ for the taller bird, the Flamingo with an extremely long neck and first and fireffor the smaller bird, the Egret, according to the rule "स्त्री स्यात्काचिन्मणाल्यादिविवक्षापचये यदि अमर, 3.5.7. It is also highly probable that with rs for the Flamingo the equally white but smaller Egret with comparatively long necks have been named as TT irrespective of sex, under this rule.
