Birds in Sanskrit Literature also means an elephant. The great Bustard, with its large size, weight and the forbidding stench, answers to the name in both the senses. The Chinese also consider its flesh as inferior. 328 8. It is also suggested that free of the following is very probably this bird :- "छ्गलः कल्माषः किकिदीविः विदीगयस्ते त्वाष्ट्राः | तं. सं. 5.6.22; तै. ब्रा. 3.9.10. for Sayanācārya in his commentary on the संहिता renders विदीगय as कुक्कुटविशेष which agrees well the Bustard's resemblance a gallinaceous bird and justifies its inclusion under the name of गोनर्द in the fवष्किर list by चरक; but in the wg he equates it with a which also agrees with this bird with a long white neck and white under-parts and looking 1 ke a Stork in the distance, being the expert artizan of the gods beautiful victims alone would seem to be appropriate for him, and that is what we find in the beautifully marked goat and the chestnut and blue Kingfisher, so that the Great Bustard with his "magnificent plumage" could very naturally be the third item in the list. The etymology of fr is however beyond me and I can only offer a guess that the word is Prakrit-fa' 'a bird' and दीर्घक-दिग्धक–दीगय, large; or fr. 'वि' and दिग्गज——दीगय, 'elephant'. वारण * as a bird occurs in कुणाल जातक (536) and बेस्संतर जातक, verse 2105. 9. The Little Bustard is quite a miniature of the great bird just described. It is only about eighteen inches long and weighs less than two pounds. It is however a very pretty bird, sandy buff above pencilled with black. The wings are black and white and the under-parts white. The neck and breast of the cock in breeding plumage are black with a white necklace and a white breast-band below i It is a winter migrant chiefly to the North-West including Kashmir and straggles as far east as Saharan- pur in the Uttar Pradesh. It frequents mustard fields, flies high, flutter- ing and skylarking about in the air, whence its other name, the Butterfly Houbara (Finn). It does not inflate its neck, has a very graceful gait and runs very fast on the ground. It has therefore been most appropriately named (=, black and white, & 'a pied horse') and described as s from its small size and habit of 'skylarking', and (thin- In both the Jataka stories वारण has been rendered as the हथिलिंग सकुन. In the वेस्सतरजातक the expression वारणाभिरुदा रम्मा can only refer to the boom- ing call of the Great Bustard, but in the commentary on verse 2249 the fer is also said to be capable of carrying away small children. Apparently this last name was applied to two different birds, the Great Bustard and the Adjutant Stork, See note on the wr bird, Art. 81. It may also be noted here that the Turkey-cock goes by the name of 'feel-murg'-elephant-bird, in Persia. If the word era for fe is not found in the lexicons it only shows that it has not been used in literature. Bustards 329 necked) as against गुरुकण्ठ for the great Bustard सारङ्ग as a विष्किर bird of सुश्रुत is certainly this bird. er also means 'a black and white horse' and it is more than probable that the name implies an underlying similarity of the breeding male with a smart pony decked out with silver trappings. The erect gait of the bird and its speed on the ground also are quite sug- gestive. That similarity with the horse did strike the ancients is apparent. from the vernacular names like (horse-heron) given by for गोनर्द of चरक, and Hindi घोरर (घोटक, घोड़ा) for the Great Bustard. An alternative • note of ढल्हणाचार्य on सारङ्ग runs “अन्यो कृष्णकर्बुवर्ण चटकाकारो विकिर" which is clearly reflected in "सारङ्गश्वररादार: कृशकण्ठ:" of कल्पद्रुकोश. It is interesting to note that one of the riddles posed in वाज. संहिता 23.11 is, “कि स्विदासीद बृहदद्वयः ?" Which is the great bird ? The answer in the next मन्त्र, is "अश्व आसोद् बृहद्वयः” । "The great bird is the a, the horse". Is fat the same as g? The riddle would thus consist of a double incaning of as an animal and as a bird : cf and the vernacular names noted above. 10. Macqueen's Bustard or Houbara resembles in build the Great Indian Bustard but is much smaller, being only about twenty nine inches in length. It is sandy brown above, beautifully marked with minute pencilling of black on buff. Both sexes have a black crest. It is known as fat in North-India which is from Sansk. far from the fine pencilling of black (feafga) in the upper plumage of the bird and the long crest. The equation from fas given above should be interpreted--- 'the तिलमयूर is a kind of कुरण्टक Bustard', otherwise it would be incorrect as the two are altogether different birds. The Houbara, when attacked by a trained Falcon and probably also in nature, protects itself by ejecting foul-smelling liquid excreta on the body of the attacking bird which gives up the chase in disgust. Would the name apply to this bird as well? Perhaps not. But it is evidently the हिंगुराज mentioned with वारण in बेस्संतरजातक, 2105, so named from the habit just described (fr. f, the evil smelling asafoetida). It is also possible that "aro-fe" is a compound name (fe- -) for the evil smelling Great Bustard: cf. an elephant in rut exuding scented ichor from the temples. The flesh of all Bustrads except the adult Great Indian Bustard is excellent. 11. The Bengal Florican is practically a black bird in the breeding plumage with wings mostly white, and back pencilled with buff markings. It has a long black crest and long black hackles on the lower neck and a tuft of still longer feathers hanging down from the lower breast. The male is twenty six inches long. Out of the breeding season both the cock and hen wear a plumage of mottled buff and black. They love cover and live in the grassy plains between the Himalayas and the Ganges though they have been found as far west as the Jumna. The male is known as in Hindi (fr., a spy and a to move? because of the bird's habitat and movements in grass cover) and उत्तृमोर (उलुप or उलूक, 'kind of grass' and मयूर, a peacock) in Assam, and are (qq) in Marathi. It has been a favou-
