Birds in Sanskrit Literature 12. The beautiful, though curious-looking, Ibis-bill has been rather. doubtfully placed with the Plovers in The Fauna (Birds) of India. It has a long, curved and red bill, red legs and feet, and wears a double band of white and black as a gorget or necklace separating the blue neck from the white under-parts. It is a bird of the banks and beds of the Himalayan streams, ranging in summer between 8,000 and 15,000 feet and in winter between the edge of the plains and 10,000 feet. 13. The a recommend the flesh of the bird (-+¶ ÑÒ, having a beautiful or ornamented neck) at the ceremony of a male child if his father wishes that he should be long-lived. The commentator gives कङ्कणहारिका as a synonym for कृकया. Now कङ्कण means प्रतिसर, माल्पः, a garland in शब्दकल्पद्रुम and "मण्डलं यागाद्यर्थं नानावर्णो रेखासप्रिदेश:" in महकोषटीकासार, The bi-coloured gorget of the Ibis-bill is certainly a both in the sense of a garland and a multi-coloured set of lines, and it is therefore more than probable that the above synonymous names belong to the Ibis-bill. It is known as (fr. g a halter or neck-rope) in Nepal. It will also be seen that the bill of this pretty bird resembles that of the aret (Black Ibis) the flesh of which is said to ensure holy lustre to the growing boy, and like the latter the auspicious red colour is very pro- minent in the Ibis-bill. The bird's habitat would seem to protect it against persecution by man and so to ensure it a full normal life. Consi- derations like these would account for the selection of the bird in the above context. 362 14. Finally the भूलिङ्गशकुनि* of the महाभारत (2.41.19-21) cannot be omitted even though it is not one of the present-day Indian birds and therefore not included in The Fauna (Birds) of India. The relevent verses describing the curious behaviour of the bird are reproduced here:-- भूलिङगशकुनिर्नाम पायें हिमवतः परे । भीष्म ! तस्याः सदा वाचः श्रूयन्तेऽर्थविगहिताः ॥ मा साहसमितीदं सा सततं वाशते किल । साहसं चात्मनातीव चरन्ती नाऽवबुध्यते ॥ सा हि मांसागलं भीष्म ! मुखात् सिंहस्य खादतः । दन्तान्तरविलग्नं यत्तदादत्तेऽल्पचेतना || The word for in the above passage stands for g, a Crocodile (Cf. synonymous expressions like पुरुषसिंह and पुरुषव्याघ्र), and भूलिङ्गशकुनि is the African Plover, Pluvianus aegyptius, commonly known as the Crocodile Bird, so called from its frequent association with the Nile Crocodile from
- भूवि लिङ्गतीति भूलिङ्गो बिलशायी पक्षिविशेष:- नीलकण्ठ on the above verse.
The bird is named मासाहस शकुनि by हेमचन्द्र in परिशिष्ट पर्वन् 3.141. The author, however, did not know that the bird was a kind of plover, for in the story related by him he makes the bird perch upon a tree which the Plovers never do. He has also modified the version in the M.Bh. 363 Plovers the body of which it picks up parasites and as the monster is sunning him- self on the bank with the mouth agape, the bird boldly enters it to draw. out the leeches sticking to his jaws. It renders another service as well to him, in that being a very wary bird, it flies off with warning cries at the approach of danger and the crocodile taking the warning slips into the water. Another Plover popularly known as the Zick-zack (Hoplopterus spinosus) is also said to have similar habits. It will be readily seen that the leeches are the # and the warning cry of the birds is the age cry of the story. It is probable that in former times one of these birds fre- quented the Sind coast or the estuary of the Sind river where Crocodiles occur, or else the ancient Indians heard of the bird's habits from the sea- faring merchants of ancient India. The Plover lays its eggs in a hole in the sand and hence the name भूलिङ्गशकुनि. The habitat mentioned as “पार्श्वे fa: " would seem to refer to the country beyond the south-western out-spurs of the Himalayas, viz., the Suleiman Range, considered as a wing or extension of the Himalayas. Evidently the territories to the North- west of the Indian Ocean are meant.
