288 Birds in Sanskrit Literature at one's feet, flies for about ten or fifteen yards, and drops again into the grass, whence it can very seldom be flushed for a second time. They differ in another respect as well from the true Quails. The ordinary conduct of the sexes is reversed during the period of incubation and it is the females. who "do all the courting; they fight with rival females, for the favour and possession of the males, to whom they relegate the care and incubation of the eggs and the up-bringing of the young. One hen will apparently go on laying eggs as long as she can find a supply of males to incubate them...". (Smythies, S. Baker and others). 7. In respect of the breeding habits of these birds Hume cites a state- ment by Jerdon that the Indians knew them, a fact which is clearly reflect- ed in the names given to the female and the male birds in the ga, viz. af and re: respectively. The first may mean (i) 'having a defective hand or limb' from कुणि or कूणि, “कुकरे"अमर, and the name should refer to a Bustard Quail which is short of one toe, or (ii) as an abbreviation of gerfor harlot' in reference to the breeding habits of the female. This is no doubt a little far-fetched and may not stand the scrutiny of grammar but the name for the male bird is very suggestive of this latter sense. (with कुत्सितार्थे कन्; cf. "माणवक: कुपुंसि स्यात्" - हेमचन्द्र ) is a half-witted, hen pecked or servile youth and refers to the jilted male Bustard left in charge of eggs and young. 8. Finally, the skulking habits of Bustard-Quails as a group have given us the very ancient name of लोपा for them. वैजयन्ती has "लोपालोपायिके समे" and the name is from root , , 'disappearance'. The skulking habit after the first flight, is so persistent that they prefer to be caught by the hand or even hammered to death at the place of hiding rather than escape by taking wing again (Hume and others), and naturally they fall an easy prey to the prying fox. This peculiar trait of these birds and the employment of dogs to make them rise again, if possible, have been described in firs शास्त्र :- “उत्थापयेयुः लावादीन् ढौकयेयुश्च तद्गतीः । यत्नैकवारं पतितः पक्षी कुर्याश्नचोत्प्लुतिम् स रज्जुना शुना तत्र मार्गयित्वा (तुं ? ) विसर्जयेत् ॥ (6.32-33) The Indian Button Quail is known as लोवा (लोपा पस्य वः) in Hindi. The Indian fox is known to eat small birds so that are is (fra fox in विकाण्डशेष) a fox that eats the लोपा birds. In the वाज, संहिता 'लोपाश' is dedicated to the Asvins," anfr" 24,36 which helps to connect the story of the Asvins saving the life of a Quail so often mentioned in the Rgveda (1.117. 16;118,8; etc.). The enemy of the aft was of course but the term apparently included the fox, for मेधातिथि on मनु (8.235) explains वृक as "शृगाल f," and the fire of the Veda was most probably a Bustard-Quail. In 1. कुलकूणी तु कुलटा कल्पद्रु. 23. Cf. Prakrit कूणित – rotten. 2. This is a 1 most appropriate name for these birds: cf. प्रमक्तस्यादर्शन लोपसंज्ञं स्वात् काशिका, 1.1.60, ic. the disappearance of a thing previously observed is लोप.. 3. सोपा and लोपाश are mentioned in तै संहिता, 5.5.18 and 21. Peafowls, Junglefowls, Pheasants, and Quails 289 saving one from a fox, the Aśvins defeated the mischief of the latter, and, seen in this light, the propriety of naming the for them with of course a touch of humour becomes quite clear. 9. Quail fighting, as royal sport, is described in lear, 2,253 where three varieties of wild birds are named (from damp areas; cf. c), (from the Vindhya territories, cf. f for a Quail), and i together with three home-bred hybirds of the first and second degrees. As the wild varieties are said to interbreed in captivity it is highly probable that they all belong to the group of Bustard Quails, the females of which are great fighters. In any case it is not possible to fix the identity of the species particularly because the nomenclature has undergone considerable change under Dravidian influence ter being a South-Indian work. 10. Like many other birds the Quails too have contributed their share to sacred and other literature. The first has the distinction of being mentioned in the Rgveda with the Aśvins as their protectors, and in the Vaj. Samhita with its enemy, the for. It has furnished a beautiful illustration to the logician in "a", and a picture of helplessness against superior force in :- “श्येनावपातचकिता वनवतिकेव कि चेष्टसे नन चिरात्कवलीकृतासि । --मालतीमाधव, 8.8. Against this last may be set the resourcefulness of the little (Bus- tard-Quail) in the frame (168) which not only successfully avoided the attack of the Falcon but, by a sudden manoeuvre, also brought about the latter's death. The e (35) is a replica of the story of and fr in the Mahabharata with Quails as the principal actors. The story of the Quail and the Crow in the Hitopadefa illustrates the evil conse- quences of keeping bad company (section 3, story 5).
