Birds in Sanskrit Literature added that small Indian houses with a room set apart in them for worship. of the sacrificial fire were not as open and spacious as modern bungalows which the Dove is known to enter at one end and pass out at the other without nesting so that once the bird entered the house or the sacrificial chamber, it would flounder and be forced to settle down somewhere... even near the fire-altar ("यत्कपोतः पदमग्नौ कृणोति) though it might ultimately escape. Its low and fast but noiseless flight like that of an Owl at night was rightly regarded as typical of a secret messenger. With the clear authority of a before us it is easy to see that correct reading of the commentary on the आश्वलायन सूत्र is “शुकवर्ण" and not "शुक्लवर्ण" and both, therefore, agree as to the identity of the offending bird. Additional evidence in support of the above identification is found in the fragra where the रक्तकण्ठ कपोत is placed in the list birds and animals whose entry into a dwelling is considered ominous:- 262 द्रोणकाको बकश्चैव, उलूकद्वयमेव च । रक्तकण्ठः कपोतश्च, व्याघ्र एणश्च वा विशेत् ॥ 2.10.140. With its maroon-red neck and breast and bright green wings the Emerald Dove is both रक्तकण्ठ (रक्तग्रीव- M.W.) and शुरुच्छवि. It shares of course, red legs and feet with all other Doves. 13. The bird, as it happens, possesses a good deal of red in its dress and would thus seem to have some esoteric affinity with fire. The wit whose form god af was compelled to assume to pick up the 'seed' of the god Śiva out of which was ultimately born should be this Dove:- अग्निर्भूत्वा कपोतो हि प्रेरितः सर्वनिर्जरैः । अभक्षच्छांभवं वीर्य चञ्च्वा तु निखिलं तदा ॥ शिवपुराण IV. 2.158,32-35. The Matsya Purana (158, 32-35) has a different version according to which Agni acted similarly but in the shape of a parrot. Here the green colour of the bird is significant, and the author of the Purana seems to have interpreted grea or off of some other Manuscipt as a Parrot, for in other versions the bird is a we only. Again, the-form taken by Agni at the instance of Indra, who, became a Falcon, to test the moral virtue of fre and fafe would seem to be this low flying Dove which by landing itself into the lap of the two kings put them in great difficulty (i.e. निति) 1. In yet another 'श्येन-कपोत' story with king बुषदर्भ-उशीनर as the protector of t, Agni and Indra do not figure but the ta is described. as a beautiful bird with blue head which must be assumed to be in effective contrast with the body-plumage: नवनीलोत्पलापीड चारुवर्ण सुदर्शन !-महाभारत, 3.32,7 1. Mahabharata. III. Ch. 131 and 197. Pigeons and Doves 263 Our Dove has a blue-grey head and beautiful plumage and the above description fits it all right. The stories from the Mahabharata and the Siva Purana referred to above clearly help to connect this Dove with the following synonymy for a kind of Kapota:- अमङ्गल्यः स भवति द्विजो यस्तु यभो यतः ( ? यमो यतः ) दहनोऽग्निसहायश्च भीषणो गृहनाशनः ॥ i.e. the bird which is under the control (a) of Yama is inauspicious and is named 'fire' (i.e. destructive like fire), 'associate of Fire-god', 'fearful' and the 'house-destroyer'-all which is rather hard upon the pretty little Dove. All considered, therefore, the malignant bird of the Rgveda, Vajasaneyi Samhita and later literature is the Emerald Dove. 14. Several Doves, and particularly the Spotted Dove mate for life and always go about in pairs. Stuart Baker who closely watched a pair of Spotted Doves regularly nesting in his verandah, describes them as "a most loving little couple", the cock-bird "very attentive to his little wife, often taking her up special dainties from the table below." It is indeed, a pleasant surprise to find that the physical features and habits of these birds had been carefully observed by the ancients more than 2,000 years ago. This is proved by the touching story of a pair of Doves purposely made very human and circumstantial in the telling, narrated in the Mahābhārata. They are described as चिवतनूह (चित्रपक्ष) and framg (Cf.fr) and as a greatly devoted couple. The characteri- stic description of the bird's eye furnishes a most helpful clue to its identity: यदि सा रक्तनेवान्ता चिवाङ्गी मधुरस्वरा । अद्य नायाति मे कान्ता न कार्य जीवितेन मे ॥ The eyelids and the narrow bare orbital skin of the Spotted Dove are red (ar) and no other Indian Dove has this feature. Evidently the heroes of the story are a pair of Spotted Doves, held up as a model of conjugal fidelity for erring humanity. In the Western world, too, the Turtle Doves are "the time-honoured emblem of tenderness and conjugal love." 15. The कपोत, in हर्षचरितम् 19.61 beginning- "दाक्षीपुत्रस्य तंत्रे ध्रुवमयमभवत् कोप्यधीती कपोतः” is the Indian Red Turtle Dove (Para. 8 above). Brahman boys at a Grammar School memorized the Sütras of Pånini by constant 1. gafe p. 296, tag, 138, Bhattacharya's edition (1899). Calcutta; कल्पड, p. 332. This seems to have been the original verse in some older lexicon but it has been corrupted and split up in the later compilations as in the current editions of safe, राजनिषष्ट्र] and कल्पनुकोश. 2. Mahabharata, Santiparvan, chapters 143-149. 3. Ibid., 144, 7.
