Birds in Sanskrit Literature are is yet another name for a kind of Crow which, if from root ¹ to disappear' may belong to the Rook because he is only a winter visitor to the North-West of India including the Punjab and Kashmir. It must however be admitted that the etymology and correct significance of the names, fr, whefe and whenfe, are not at all clear. The names for the Hooded and the House Crows have already been given, but two other excellent names for the latter may be men- tioned. They are wr (the Crow of civilization) and (House- occurs in बग्निपुराण, 317, 37 as a substitute for गृहकारी Grow). The last name of Manu, 12, 66. It may also be stated that it is the House Crow which is the commonest victim of the Koel (Art. 37) and hence the epithet परभूत् for it. and 12. Turning to names like अरण्य or वन काक, पर्वत काक, कृष्णका, are and also perhaps gfer and shef it would appear that they are more. appropriate to the jet black Carrion and Jungle Crows than to the Raven. These all-black birds have been distinguished by बराहमिहिर 35 अन्यभूतपक्षकाक (black-plumaged like the Koel), ch. 94. 11, and by as T (black-necked in contrast with the grey-necked or wefa), ch. 12. 6, as a sub-class of the Raven. According to Vasantarâja the best Crow for pur- poses of augury is the Raven and the next in order of preference is van This term includes not only the Carrion and Jungle Crows but also the Hooded-Crow, while the House Crow comes as the last but one of his series (ch. 12. 6-8). The varfuafe, however, follows the lexical division of Crows into two groups and places the Raven and other black Crows in the group and the House Crow in the other : 6 कार्यकालेषु काकोलः प्रशस्तः स्याद्यया किल । न तथा वायसो जेवो ग्राह्मस्तु तवभावतः ॥ pp. 393-394 The ft, however, is helpful in a proper subdivision of the black birds into two types for the Raven is equated with "काकोल आसुरः" or आसुर काकोल, and it follows that the others are simply. This fits in admirably with the name age for the jet black Red-billed Chough discussed in the next section. The following verse maintains a clear distinction between 1. नमति पलायति नशाक: See, for similar formations, दगपाचायणादिवृतिः, 3.34. 2. Poet Jyotirisvara of Bihar compiled his book Varna-Ratnakara carly in the fourteenth century. It is a collection of items and suggestive phrases for the use of poets and story-writers under various heads. One of these is red (description of a thief) in the eighth Kallola, p. 66. It contains the phrase "affe", i.e. a thief should be described as possessing eyes like those of the or the variety of crow, for both these names are from root to disappear or fly away (Apte's Dictionary) and would seem to refer to the Rook. In the alternative these names may well belong to the jackdaw, a resident bird of Kashmir but a winter visitor to the Punjab, 3. Synonyms like काकनीला, काकजम्बू and [स्वाक्षजम्बू for the deep blue-black fruit of Eugenia Jombolana support the view put forth here. Crows and their Allies the smaller black Crows like the Jungle or Carrion Crow () and the Raven (, the same as w) on the one hand and between these and the House Crow () on the other :- गृधः कपोतः काकोलो वायसो वाऽपि मूर्द्धनि । कव्यादो वा खगो नीलः षण्मासायुः प्रदर्शकः ॥ -Mark. Purâna, 40. 8. The name fe is evidently coined after the Vedic w. The mention. of three different types of Crow in this verse agrees exactly with the three types named in the महाव्युत्पत्ति, viz. द्रोणकाक, काक and [वागस (Sec. 213). काकोल, pers, and are therefore synonymous with one another for the Carrion and Jungle Crows, but in literature they are mentioned simply as or ter :- शुष्कवृक्षस्थितो ध्वाडक्ष आदित्याभिमुखस्तथा । मगि चोदयते वामं चक्षुधोरमसंशयम् ॥ मूर्ख ध्वाङ्क्ष न लज्जसेऽप्यसदृशं पाण्डित्यमुन्नाटयन् । काष्य कोकिलकाकयोः किल यथा भेदो भृशं भाषिते । -Kavya-malá, pt. 7, Vairagyaśataka, 98. काके' कार्ण्यमलौकिकं धवलिमा हंसे। -Bhoja-prabandha, 269. मृच्छकटिक, 9.11 -Subhasita. 222, 38. काकः कृष्णः पिकः कृष्णः को भेदः पिककाकयोः । 7 -Ibid. 225. 120, also 225, 122; 221, 205. of tafe has a list of items of a black colour in Section, 3 The औौगादिकपदा and , but not re is one of them. This distinction between the two is further strengthened by the following :- गृधः शृगालः काकवायुको वासस्था -Bhela Samhità, p. 108 it s not possible to allocate Turning to the names अरण्यकाक, पर्वतकाक, or any of them to a particular species as both the Eastern Carrion Crow and the Himalayan Jungle Crow are found in the Himalayas, the former in Kashmir and the latter from Afghanistan to Bhutan, while the Indian Jungle Crow occurs throughout India south of the Himalayas, and since it is not easy to distinguish the three varieties in the field these names must be regarded as synonymous with and for them. in 1. कृष्ण का के-हेमचन्द्र, both being jer black. The flag of यम consists of a huge वामor black crow made of iron कार्ष्णलोहमयो क्षमस्याभून्हाध्वज स्कन्दपुराण, कौमारिका qve, Ch. 16.
