176 Birds in Sanskrit Literature and for the possession of a nest related in the third canto interpolated between cantos 59 and 60 of area of the Rāmāyaṇa. qu has been used here in the general sense of a bird of prey including the Eagle. It a poor story, badly told and the final judgment of Râma is also incorrect, but that is immaterial for our present purpose. 3. The common names for an Owl are , f and . The first name probably refers to their noisy character (cf. उलि उलूलि outcry), the second to their living and breeding in holes (), and the third to the dark brown plumage of some of them. The smallest Owls, viz. the Owlets, being known as क्षुद्रोलूक, उलूकचेटी, पिङ्गला or डुण्डुल the term उलूक has as a rule been confined to the larger hooting Owls both in the Rgveda and later literature while the names महाकौशिक and महापक्षी belong to the boldest and most powerful of them all, the Forest Eagle Owl (see below). On the other hand the so called common names like नक्तंचर, तामस क्रूरराविन्, दिवाभीत, दिवान्ध, नखानी, हरिलोचन, धूक, घोरदर्शन etc. are merely in the nature of descriptive adnouns stressing a particular habit or character of an Owl. Complementary names like fe and fefe mean an Owl and a Crow respectively as mutual enemies, a particular large Owl over- powering and killing a Crow at night and the latter having the better of the former during the day. 4. Apart from the general classification based on the size of the birds there is another which subdivides the family according to (1) the colour of the plumage, e.g. am for the Bay Owl, as for the White or Barn Owl (Art. 48) and fr for the Owlets; (2) the shape of the head, e.g. for the larger hooting Owls with a large round head and a marked depression on the forehead which divides the head into two globes, as it were, resembling the prominences on the forehead of an elephant (); and (3) the way ear-tufts are carried, e.g. at for one that has long aigrettes or car-tufts resembling the long cars of a hare; for one that wears its ear-tufts always erect; and finally, ar or STT for those that have their tufts spread out sideways. Besides we have the name are for a particular species that kills and cats mainly Crows and far one having the ways of an eagle. ind is an interesting 5. The following verse from the commentary on the epithet पोरदर्शन:- 1. धन्वन्तरि राजनिघण्टु and कल्पदुकोश have listed the names of the larger Owls and the Owlets separately. raft also has estat for the dark coloured Bulbul (Art. 6) so that it is possible that and are allied forms meaning 'black or dark colour'. अभिधानप्पदीपिका, 1023 actually gives मेचक in the sense of Sansk. पेचक for हस्तिपुच्छमूलोपान्त. 2. तामस malignant or loving the darkness तमस् Other Owls "वनासं सुजिह्याक्षं क्रूरमप्रियदर्शनम् अक्रुद्धस्येदृशं वक्त्रं भवेत् क्रुद्धस्य कीदृशम्' । In the following passages and are evidently the inaus- picious large hooting Owls as distinguished from the Owlets which often nest near or actually in human habitations:- “यदुलूको वदति मोघमेतद्-" "कपोत उलूकः शशस्ते निर्ऋत्य-" RV. 10.165.4. VS. 24.38. “गृधः कङ्कः कपोतच उलूकः श्येन एव च चिल्लच धर्मचिल्लच भासः पाण्डर एव च ॥" ‘‘गुञ्जत्कुञ्जकुटीरकौशिकघटाषूत्कारवत्कीचकः” 177 शब्दकल्पद्रुम under पाण्डर. उत्तररामचरित, 2.29. One who kills his friend is reborn as a large Owl destined to kill innocent (i.e. friendly) birds all his life - "कौशिको मित्रहन्ता -" गरुडपुराण, 2.2.80. These hooting Owls have been mentioned as उलूक, कौशिक or धूक both in बृहत्संहिता 42.62; 85.49 and वसंतराज ( pp. 245, 246). With these prelimi- nary observations we may now proceed to a brief consideration of the various types of Owl, their Sanskrit names and some references to them in literature. OWLETS: 6. The common Spotted Owlet of the towns, villages and gardens is the best known Owl in India. This is the wor bird of augury men- tioned as पिङ्गला in बृहत्संहिता, 87.4 and as पिङ्ग, पिङ्गला, 2 पिक्षण, पिंगचक्षु, and पिंगलिका in the 13th Varga of . In this work the bird's call-notes consisting of one to five syllables, its attitudes and movements have been described and interpreted in great detail for purposes of augury. The बगंला (खर+गल, कण्ठ, noisy) of ऋग्वेद 7.104.17 and अयवंवेद, 8.4.17 would seem to be this Owlet. Similarly the कृकालिका of the काकोलूकीय of पंचतंत्र who conducted the day-blind Owl to his nest-hole should be this bird which does not shun of 1. रक्तनासिक (fr. रक्तनास) for an Owl in the lexicons seems to be a wrong reading , for no Indian Owl has a red or reddish bill. The Himalayan Wood Owl, however, with its fleshy-yellow bill makes the nearest approach to the adnoun. This तंवाख्यायिका in a slightly different form. verse occurs 2. FT may well mean yellow-eyed, and if so the name would correspond to हरिलोचन for the larger Owls.
