Birds in Sanskrit Literature. clear that he was aware of the fact that all Crows did not fall into two classes only, and, undoubtedly, this awareness must have been shared by the more widely travelled lexicographers though unfortunately they did not care to connect particular names with particular birds. 4 7. वसन्तराज शाकुलम् a treatise on augury describes five different kinds of Crow according to the five-fold division of the Hindu society, viz., fax, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य, शूद्र and पञ्चम...a method of classification which was much in favour during a certain period of Indian literary history. The descriptions, however, are sufficiently clear and enable us to identify the species intended by the author : (i) बृहत्प्रमाणो गुरुदीघंतुण्डो दृढस्वरः कृष्णवपुः स विप्रः । (ii) पिङ्गाक्षनीलास्यविमिश्रवर्णः स्यात्वात्रियो स्क्षरवोऽतिशूरः । (iii) आपाण्डनील सितनीलच नात्यन्तरूक्षो रटितंय वैश्यः । (iv) भस्मच्छवि: भूरिककारशब्दः शूद्रः कृशाङ्कः च पलोतिरुक्षः । (v) विक्षसूक्ष्मास्य तनुः विशडकः यः कन्धरां दीघंतरा विभति स्थिराननः स्थैयं समेतबुद्धिः काकोऽन्त्यजातिः स तु पञ्चमोऽ -Varga, 12. 3-5 (i) describes the all-black Crow of large size, possessing a long and heavy bill. It is clearly the Raven later on called by him the are. It is the बुद्धकाक (बृहत्रमाण) of वैजयंती. (ii) refers to a black-faced Crow of different colours (evidently, black and drab-grey) and brown eyes. It is the Hooded Crow-the TIK, (iii) describes a Crow of black colour but with a different shade and with a black and white bill. It is the Rook -the foreftersgere. (iv) contains a description of the slim, partly ash-coloured and very noisy Crow. It is the House-Crowthe werfere of Vasantaraja, of afgem and the afarge of the lexicons. (v) defines the self-possessed and confident looking bird with a not un- pleasant voice (fire, with fr as privation prefix; cf. of the second and me of the third variety) and a small bill and body. This is the Jackdaw--the gears of Vasantaraja, and the fe of Mahabharata. 8. The Punjab and Tibetan Ravens are entirely black and have powerful bills. They are the boldest among Crows and attack birds, weak mammals including freshly dropped lambs and the eyes of lambing ewes, young pup- pies, etc., wherein probably lies the germ of these birds being regarded 1. See घोटक द्रुम, and हस्ती in [शब्दकल्पद्रुम Even gems have been so classified in यूनित कल्पतरू 2. This 13" bird with a bill of 1.5" and tail a little over 5 as against the 17.5" House-crow with a bill of 2" and tail of 7" has been supposed to have a comparatively long neck, i.e., as compared to its size, unless the text is corrupt. Crows and their Allies as evil and inauspicious by the Vedic Indians who had a pastoral and agri- cultural economy. "With all the Raven's solemnity of voice and stateliness of carriage, the great bird is an enemy." This "magnificent felon" is, most prabably the कुष्ण शबून of Rv. 10. 16, 6 and Av. 12. 3, 13, कृष्णशकुनि of Av. 7. 64, and गौतम स्मृति, ch. 17, and simply शनि of है. आरण्यक, 4.35. The terms and in these names imply the large size of the bird as explained in M.W. and the Vedic Index of Names and Subjects. Later names for the Raven are दोषकाक, आसुर काकोल (the devil of a Crow), दण्ड काफ (दयः यमः bird of the god of Death), and a (the great Crow) as found in the lexicons (c.g. द्रोण: बुढवायने महीप.). The name बृरु (क) for a Crow should also belong to it as is the lamb-killing wolf. 5 9. The Brown-necked Raven has been named most appropriately as the . This name occurs in what appears to have been the original reading of the 9th verse of ch. 15 of the go as quoted by Sayana in his commentary on the पाराशर धर्मसंहिता प्रायश्चित्त काण्ड-2. ch. 12, Bom. Sansk. Series, Vol. 64, p. 265: परदाराभिगमने रक्तद्रोणस्तु जायते । It also points to (, of a brown colour) other name for it. M. Williams renders a Raven which is partly correct. The me , as if burnt, but goes on to specify the colour as black and then identifies the name with a which again is partly correct. in his of the lexicons as an- as an inauspicious Crow or explains the term as describes hay that has changed into a brown colour through long keeping or otherwise as (p. 164). Again, the body of sage Narada browned by penance is described as दग्ध in the स्कन्द पुराण, ब्रह्मखण्ड, 2, 1, 48: तपसा दग्धदेहोऽसि विष्णुभक्तिपरायणः । It will thus be seen that the word in stands for 'fire-scorched or sun-burnt' and hence for a brown colour, and accepting this meaning of the epithet I would identify as the Brown-necked Raven. 10. The Rook is black all over with a purplish blue gloss (arragefter) on the head, neck and lower parts and violet purple on the back. The base of the bill and face are white and devoid of feathers and the rest of the bill is black. It feeds chiefly in ploughed fields and grasslands on in- sects, seeds and grain. One of the names for a Crow is tef, descendant of , from a kind of pulse-grain, and it may belong to this bird as he is more of a vegetarian than his cousins (cf. for a horse), unless it is the same as fer for which see Para 12 below. 1. It is however more than likely that the the Carrion and Jungle crows. 2. The first gives atqufer as v.l. for for. of post-Vedic literature refers to
