320 Birds in Sanskrit Literature market about the year 1916-17 (Finn). They feed more exclusively on water-plants than do other Cranes and do not attack crops. Closely associated as it is with weedy tanks and Jheels it has been regarded as a kind of सारस and its specific names, पुष्कर, पुष्कराज्य, श्येनाव्य ("श्येनः शुक्ले" हेमचंद्र, hence 'श्येन सारस'-'the White Sarus), and पुष्कराह्न ( पुष्करे जले आकाशे वा ह्वयति * 'one heard calling near about water or in the sky') have been assimilated with those for the are in the lexicons. Its call is not a trumpet but a soft one which is syllabified in its Hindi name 'Kare-khar' repeated rapidly but rather softly (S. Baker). It will be seen that the Hindi arter**corres- ponds closely to Sansk. which is synonyous with or an adnoun for the पुष्कराह्न in हारावली. Not having a ॠष्ट or कौवस्वर (a trumpeting call) it is not one. f the birds whose loud notes are discussed in para. 17 below. It is rarely found on dry land and the name gereg as explained above is fully justified. and gga mention it by this name. azz 15. The Demoiselle Crane (33") is the smallest of India but very elegant both in form and demeanour. Unlike others it has a fully feathered head and wears a pair of pure white aigrettes springing from the region of the ear and projecting beyond the head in a beautiful downward curve. The crown is grey but the rest of the head and neck including the very long and lanceolate ornamental plumes overhanging the breast are black while the wings and the greater wing-coverts are blackish. The rest of the body plumage is grey. The bill is dull green, bright red and the legs black. It arrives in India crossing the Himalayas about October and returns in March-April in huge flocks, flying across the skies in broad bands often a mile or more long. It does not stay for any length of time in North Indian plains except as a passage migrant but makes straight for the peninsula where it attacks the rice and other crops. The call is a harsh 'kurr-kurr-kurr' distinctly heard below as a flock passes very high overhead. Epithets like a and are refer to its harsh voice contrasting with सुस्वर for the trumpeting Sarus, and it is the अपस्वर-or खर-कोन्च, कुर, and of the lexicons corresponding करकोंचा (ख) in Marathi, कुर्रा, करकरी and करकटिया in Hindi for it. The हिन्दी शब्दसागर also renders कर्करेटु as a kind of सारस'. It is also the नीलाङ्ग सारस of the lexicons because it is the darkest coloured crane of India. Like the Common Crane the Demoiselle too is a luxury for the table and is much sought after by sportsmen who call it by the name of (Prakrit , accepted as Sanskrit in afr. fat, as v. 1. for ). Its flesh was appreciated in ancient India as well and we find advising Råma to kill and eat the rich and fat Geese and Ducks, Coots
- Compare "कह के जले ह्वयति"--
रामाश्रमी टीका on अमर See also चक्र for the Ruddy Goose in M.W. and compare and uttering a call like that of a cart-wheel (Art. 84). the
- It is distinguished in Hindi as it, the Chinese Crane from
Common Crane. Cranes (ra:, Art. 58), the Common and the Demoiselle Cranes frequenting the Pampå Lake: "तत्व हंसाः प्लवा: क्रौञ्चाः कुरराव राघव । X X घृतपिण्डोपमान् स्थूलांस्तान्द्विजान् भक्षयिष्यथ ||" X Rāmāyaṇa, 3.73.12-14. 321 Some thoughtless commentators have unfortunately rendered as 'frogs', as for example, in faster, Nirnayasagar edition, Bombay, 1930. 16. The identifications made in the preceding paragraphs are sum- marized below: 1. The Eastern Common Crane- 2. The Hooded Crane– श्वेतमूर्धन्-or श्वेतमस्तक लक्ष्मण, 3. The Black-necked Crane- नीलकण्ठ सारस or नीलस्कन्ध कोच, 4. The Great White Crane - श्येनाव्य-कुर र सारस; पुष्कराहू, व. 5. The Sarus or Indian Crane- रक्तमस्तक लक्ष्मण, (सुस्वर) सारस 6. The Demoiselle Crane कुरर, कर्करेट खर-कोच, नीलाङ्ग-सारस 17. As there is reason to believe that Sanskrit scholars have very hazy and often mistaken ideas about the and his cousins, barring of course the well known Sarus, and particulary as Dr. S.C. Law, F. Z. S., misled by the rendering of क्रोच as कोंचबक in Bengali in शब्दकल्पद्रुम, has identified the of Poet Kalidasa with the Pond-Heron or Paddy-Bird (Ardeola grayii) in his well known book, 'Kalidaser Pakhi (in Bengali), page 93, it is neceasary to add a few more words about the voice of the described by Kalidasa as a far carrying resonant sound ( frare). The Pond-Heron known in Bengal as 'koncha-Baka' "is a silent bird but invariably utters a low, hoarse croak as it rises, whilst at night, when the colonies settle down to roost, there is a considerable amount of querulous croaking and flutter- ing" (S. Baker in F. B. I.). Neither the occasional low croak nor the querulous croakings on the trees can come anywhere near the sonorous trumpeting calls coming from a flock of Common Cranes feeding in the rice fields or flying in formation high up in the air. The powerful and far-reaching call of the has indeed been stressed in the following description of a particular way of reciting a मंत्र:- "यत्क्रौश्वमन्वाहासुरम्" -तैत्ति. संहिता, 2.5.11. where the adjective arge refers to its high note. e commenting on "वाचे कोच:"– ibid 5.5.12 describes फीच as दारुणस्वनः पक्षिविशेषः, i.e. a parti- cular bird with a very loud call. At a sacrifice to secure heaven to the host () the priest must pronounce the exclamation in a very loud tone:- "उच्च कोचमिव वषट् कुर्यात स्वर्गकामस्य"-हिरण्यकेशी श्रौतसूत्र, Pt. 8, 21.2.44. Again, कोंचस्सर (कन्चस्वर) has been explained as follows in अभिधानराजेन्द्र:-
