52 EAGLES, FALCONS AND ALLIED BIRDS The Fishing and Sea-Eagles, and the Lammergeyer belonging to the present group have already been dealt with, the former with the Osprey and the latter with the Vultures for reasons stated in the respective articles. The remaining birds of the group are considered here. In the second Edition of the Fauna of British India (Birds), the Falcons are placed before the Eagles but as the latter are the largest members of the family, I give them precedence in this article. A. TRUE EAGLES 1. In English, the name Eagle is ordinarily confined to the larger diurnal birds of prey which are not Vultures. Seven or eight species of them are known to exist in Europe, and six in India. As a rule the female Eagle is visibly larger than the male. They are "remarkable for the power and stateliness of their flight which is largely soaring-in type, i.e. the wings are not flapped, but kept stretched out, and the bird appears to float through the air". The voice of an Eagle a "not unmusical trilling scream" of several notes. They kill their prey like mammals, birds, rep- tiles, frogs, etc., on the ground, and all, with just one solitary exception, feed on carrion as well. That exception is the Golden Eagle of the Himalayas (Aquila chrysaetos daphnea) while the western sub-species (A. C. chrysaetos) is known to be a carrion-eater. The older belief of scientists that the Himalayan bird also feeds on carrion was recorded in the first edition of the Fauna of British India (Birds) but it has since been definitely contradicted by that keen observer of the Raptores of the Punjab and Himalayas, C. H. Donald, F. Z. S., who after a prolonged and accu- rate study of these birds, has established the fact that the Himalayan sub- species never stoops to carrion, and the earlier statement has now been omitted from the second edition (1922) of the Fauna in justice to the great bird who inspired the sages of the Rgveda in a most wonderful way and played no mean a part in the evolution of Vedic thought and imagery, including even the later Vedanta Philosophy. I must, therefore, record here our grateful thanks to Mr. Donald for his vindication of the honour of the truly noble Suparna, the Himalayan Golden Eagle. Eagles, Falcons and Allied Birds 199 2. All the birds of prey are descended from the primeval Garuda according to the mythological statement in the Mahabharata, 5. 101 where the opening verses give a fairly long list of the names of the Raptores of North India. That a majority of the names are actually after the physical or mythological characteristics of the different birds is hardly open to doubt, though it is not always easy to identify the individual birds with their respective names in the list. The reason is that several names refer to the same bird either according to his different mythological aspects or to actual habits and colour of its plumage. An attempt, will, however, be made to identify some of them, at least tentatively. The Raptores in their totality, are गारुडा: गरुडात्मजाः or गरुडान्वय (the Garuda family) - नैकेमहापक्षिगणैर्गारुडैः शीघ्रविक्रमैः । संपूर्णवीर्यसम्पन्नैर्दमनैरुरगारिभिः ॥ वायुपुराण, 40.3 A further division, indicative of an ancient classification into different groups, e.g. F: (a comprehensive term for the Falconidae, inclusive of the Eagles, Falcons, and Hawks), T. (the Bearded and Neophron Vultures) and qur: (other Vultures) is to be found in another genealogy reproduced in the Purānas with slight modifications. 2 The चरकसंहिता, 1.27. 34-35 appears to confine the term to the Eagles as it separately men- tions other birds like (Osprey and Fishing Eagles) ft (Hawk- Eagles), g(Honey-Buzzard), ³ (the Shaheen Falcon), gfrer (Sparro Hawks), w (Bearded and Neophron Vultures) and qu (other Vultures). सुश्रुत, 1.46.74 adds चिल्ल for the Kites, but omits मधुहा and घूमीका. 3. Apart from being the names of the primeval bird the terms, तायं] and वैनतेय are also synonymous with सुपर्ण as a specific name for the Himalayan Golden Eagle. But it must be remembered that gf and have often been used synonymously in the Rgveda both for the Golden and other Eagles, and for the Falcons. Nevertheless the difference between the majestic Golden Eagle, the Eagle par excellence, and the others was well understood as may be seen from the following examples where the former is either distinguished as the foremost, the strongest and the fastest Eagle or is called the Suparna proper (प्रश्येन: प्रकर्षेण श्येन: the best of all Eagles) as against the smaller members of the group called - "प्रश्येनः श्येनेभ्य आशुपत्वा सुपण", (Rgveda) 1. In Mahabharata 1.66.59. 2. See the typical verse on the subject cited in Art. 51. 3. Also get a bird of prey-M. W. It is red as the King-crow (for) in [शब्दकल्पद्रुम and in अष्टहृदयटका apparently by confusion with धूम्याट, but see in Section D., paragraphs 9 and 10. 4. 4.26.4. For gyvi the Golden Eagle and the Golden Oriole, see Art. 19.
