182 Birds in Sanskrit Literature will also devour carrion, for I once disturbed it eating the remains of a tiger and once that of a goat" (S. Baker in F.B.I., second edition). It is also "said to kill...young deer" (Blanford and Oates, F.B.I., first edition). 16. This Owl is the greit ('the great bird', in Prakrit) of the lexicons, the grf (the Great-Owl) of Garuda Purana, and the carrion-eating Owl of the Mahabharata. as under:- defines it "महापक्षी च कृष्णोऽसौ नक्तकः कृतमालकः ।” i.e. the great bird is of a dark colour and an Eagle of the night. is a homonym and means (i) the tree Cassia fistula, known also as g and g (beautiful leaved or gold-coloured), from its long drooping racemes of yellow flowers regarded as garlands (ar marda); (ii) the spotted deer which occurs in flocks or in long lines when on the move; and (iii) one wearing a sort of garland or tuft of some thing. The last meaning is not given in the lexicons but in the present connection the adnoun , descriptive of a bird, is comparable with the Sansk. names and for for the Tufted Pochard (Art. 84, C.). In this sense the epithet would seem to refer to the long ear-tufts on the Owl's head. But it is also possible that the author of the wishing to describe the bird as 'a night Eagle' (regi) has used as a synonym or substitute for g due to the exigency of the metre which called a longer word.¹ The phrase gif af used in the Mahabharata for the Dusky Horned Owl, quoted above, would seem to support this last interpretation. Be that as it may, the name it for a kind of Owl in it is fully appropriate to this great bird. In the same way grfir occurring as the title of a charm or a quoted in the Garuda Purana, 1.134 refers to this bird. There the guttaral conversational notes of the Owl have been given a set form just as the various calls of the Spotted Owlet have been conveniently rendered for purposes of augury in वसन्तराज 13. 25-33 and बृहत्संहिता, 87. 38-39. 17. The mythological story of the destruction of the sacrifice being performed by far is related in the Mahabharata, 12.283 where a dwarfish demon born out of a drop of Siva's perspiration pursues and destroys the who having assumed the form of a deer was fleeing up a hill. The physical characteristics of the dwarf are said to resemble those of the ts (Eagle-Owl):- "ह्रस्वोऽतिमात्रं रक्ताक्षो हरिश्मश्रुविभीषणः । ऊर्ध्वकेशोऽतिरोमाङ्गः श्येनोलूकस्तथैव च ॥ करालकृष्णवर्णश्च रक्तवासास्तथैव च ।" 1. शाल्मली, the tree Bombax malabarica, is also a synonym for सुपर्णं, the Golden Eagle which is also सुवर्णाङ्ग; cf. सुवर्णक for कृतमाल; cf. also words like किङ्किरात, पीतभद्र, भृङ्गराज, वज्जुल, i.c which mean both a particular plant and a particular bird सुपर्ण स्वर्णचूडे च गरुडे कृतमालके मेदिनी. Other Owls 183 Here the reference is clearly to an Owl having the habits and courage of an Eagle. for corresponds to the whity-brown bristly feathers on the face of the bird; वंश to the long aigrettes; कृष्णवणं and रक्तवास to the dark brown and fulvous colour of the bird; and afar stands for its soft and downy plumage. It is also interesting to note that the demon, like the Eagle Owl, is made to kill a deer. The wiat would thus seem to be our Eagle Owl. 18. Again, the carrion-eating Owl of the same Epic cannot but be this bird:- "गृधकाकबलोलूककङ्कगोमायुहर्षणम् (युद्धम्) ।" 7.167.83 and the Owl eating away the bodies of sinners in hell with other carrion- birds is the same:- “काकैवेंकैयू कोलूकैर्मशकैयूँ चिकैस्तथा ।” गरुडपुराण, 2.3.14. (Venkateshwar Edition); मार्कण्डेयपुराण, 12.9. (Ibid.) in Hindi as the 19. The Eagle Owl goes under the name of g or and मिगदोरी ( मुगद्रोही -मिगदोन्ही मिगदोरी ?) in Bhutan. This is probably the same of RV. 7.104.22 (-). The Bhutanese name, if it means 'enemy of deer', would also be significant. According to Sayaṇācārya means a fas(?) an Owlet, i.e., a minor enemy. would then be a more powerful enemy working at night and targ, an enemy couple moving about and working together like a pair of birds, cf. "चक्रवाकेव दम्पती" (AV. 14.2.64). 20. The Snowy Owl is again a large bird with a length of twenty three inches and a wing-span of about five feet. It is a pure white bird with a few brown bais on the upper parts and is feathered to the toes for protection against the cold of the circumpolar region which is its breeding home. Its voice is "a cry harsh like the crow's". It is very bold and does not hesi- tate to attack the man who molests him-even dogs. It preys upon wild pigeons, ducks, ptarmigans, fish etc. in day-light but during winter it also hunts at night (Cassess's Book of Birds). In winter it moves down to Central Europe and Central Asia and has once been obtained in North-West Punjab. It is possible that in the long past this Owl bred more plentifully in its native haunts and was therefore seen more often in the Himalayas and the North-West of India. The e renders 45 as a large Owl (5) 1. Prakrit वीरल्ल सउण-उलूकजातीये हु-लापक पक्षिणि of अभिधानराजेन्द्र exactly corres ponds to the name श्येनोलूक, वीरल्ल means श्येन हु-लापक calling हु हु, clearly points to the Hindi name for this Owl. iter in ter is a bird of prey, the Kite. The crested Serpent-Eagle is called a (fr. Pr. ge a hill; Hill-Kite) in Hindi, Although the Owl has brown eyes the demon's red eyes emphasize his fiery nature. 2. पेचक clearly implies that पाक is not a क्षुद्रोलूक.
