258 Birds in Sanskrit Literature Dove) of the lexicons.¹ The Spotted Dove is blackish-brown and spotted white or rufous above and vinaceous-pink below. This also, like the pre- ceding "is a most tame and confiding little bird, running about freely in gardens and villages...generally hunting in couples and constantly calling to one another in the softest and sweetest of coos" (Ibid.). It passes as चितरोख in Hindi and is the चित्रपोत or चित्रपक्ष कपोत of the lexicons and literature. The fourth and the last of the series is the Ring-Dove, the lightest coloured member of the group, being lilac-grey on the head and neck, fawn-brown on the back and lilac to pale dove-grey on the breast. Some white on the tail and the silver-grey and greyish-white of the flanks, axillaries and under wing-coverts give the bird, when on the wing, a whitish look. It is धौर- or धौला-पंडुक in Hindi corresponding to in Sanskrit. Like the other two it also "haunts the vicinity of humanity and is most common in cultivated country round villages and towns, freely entering gardens" (Ibid.). 5. These three Doves of towns and villages (Nos. 2-4) have been men- tioned as birds of omen (कपोता: त्रयः) in अग्निपुराण, 231, बृहत्संहिता, 87, 1 and , p. 247 though the relevant text in the last appears to be incom- plete. Nevertheless it refers to the fair , i.e. three different Doves, viz. the farge, the particularly whitish, the fa, spotted or variegated, and the , the brown. This agrees very well with Bhaṭṭotpala's commentary on the बृहत्संहिता where he enumerates the three species as आपाण्डुर, चित्र-and -. These names belong respectivly to the Ring-Dove, the Spotted Dove and the Little Brown Dove. 6. All the races of the first three species listed above have chequered black patches on either side of or behind the neck and are comprised as miniature or half-pigeons within the lexical equation अर्धपारावतश्चितकण्ठे–मेदिनी, , etc. (cf. 'Half-Snipe' for a small Snipe). The Ring-Dove, on the other hand wears a semi-collar of black edged white both above and below and is therefore the art of the lexicons. The Red Turtle. Dove also has a black semi-collar behind the neck and it must share the epithet. Other names for the Ring Dove are धवल पाण्डु and धवल-कपोत (see below). 7. So far we have dealt with names based upon the colour of the plumage but some of these birds have also been classified according to the nature of their call notes. Thus the Spotted Dove with a confluent or rippling call-a guttural 'croo' repeated several times in quick succession, is classed as the कलध्वनि type and the Ring Dove (घवल कपोत) with its distinct triple "coo" call is a graft type of Dove; cf. è or eais (èu separation of syllables; interruption-M.W.) as a synonym for शब्दकल्पद्रुम धन्वन्तरि has the following : andra in 1. "धूसरो धूम्रलोचन:"- राजनिषंदू, सिहादिवर्ग, 198. The adnoun er is descriptive of a donkey and camel as well; but see para. 8 below. 2. The Little Brown Dove with the call "Cru-do-do-do-do" would also belong to this type. Pigeons and Doves qrugeg fafaut sa: feracer: arrafe: 1 द्वितीयो धवलः प्रोक्तः स कपोतः स्फुटध्वनिः ॥ 259 A third type, the includes the next bird. 8. In the Red Turtle Dove () alone are the sexes differently coloured. The male is a warm vinous-red and the female brown. The chin and throat of the male are albescent contrasting with the dark ashy-grey head and the vinous-red breast. The eyes vary from hazel-brown to dark brown. Both have a black semi-collar on the hind neck which naturally attracts the adnoun is for this species as well. The call is a distinctive, "rolling groo--gurr-goo repeated four or five times quickly" (Salim Ali). aft notes the call and the colour of the eyes of this Dove as under:- "कपोतोऽन्यो धूघूकद् धूम्रलोचन:"p. 296. It is possible that the brown female was looked upon as a different species and the equation, धूसरो धूम्प्रलोचन:, of राजनिघंटु, सिंहादिवर्ष, 138 refers to her as the धूसर कपोत. Being the smallest of the Doves it is the काणकपोत of चरक, 1.25.37-38 and सुश्रुत, 1.46.69. चक्रपाणिदत्त on the former explains the adjective काण (fr. कण little, small) as अल्पार्थवाची while डल्हणाचार्य on the latter renders the name as a which has been adopted by K.M. Vaidya in his r The name अरुण कपोत corresponds to the bird's Hindi names इंटिया धूपू (इंट a brick; the brick-red Dove) and (the rose-coloured Dove). It is widely distributed in the country and is very numerous in the North-west but being a shy bird it keeps to well-wooded areas. 9. The male of the beautiful Emerald Dove or gra has a blue-grey head, metallic emerald-green upper parts and deep vinous-red neck, shoulders and breast. The female has the head also vinous-red. Even for a Dove it is rather a small bird, being only 10 inches in total length (i.e. only one inch longer than the Red Turtle Dove). It is found throughout the greater part of India including Kashmir and Nepal in forest country with a sufficient rainfall. These pretty birds are very terrestrial in their habits and are therefore, very active on the ground and frequent damp footpaths in evergreen forests. Like the entire Pigeon family they are fully. vegetarian except for termites which they eat greedily. Another Dove which shares this habit is the Spotted Dove. "Their flight...is extremely swift, and at the same time wonderfully silent, and it is often quite startling the way these birds flit into sight and then disappear without a sound, twisting and turning so as to avoid bushes and other obstacles in their flight. Invariably they keep low down, and it is rare to see them rise twenty feet from the ground even when they dash across some opening in forest"... (S. Baker). They are not gregarious, but in some favourite spots half a dozen or more may sometimes be met with. "It has a curious habit of entering and passing through buildings, which, doubtless, it hopes will afford refuge from the glare of the sun; but finding the interior so different from what it expects, it passes straight through instead of resting."
