72 CURLEW, GODWIT, SANDPIPER, RUFF & REEVE, WOOD- COCK, & SNIPE 1. This family comprises the longer-billed waders some of which are as large as a common fowl, others as big as a dove and yet others no bigger than a sparrow, the majority, however possessing long legs. 2. The Curlew is a sandy-brown bird as big as a common fowl, or to quote from the Britannica: "In bulk the Curlew is not less than a crow, but it looks larger still from its long legs, wings and neck" (11th Edn.). 3. It is a winter visitor to India, arriving in September and leaving by the middle of May. In winter it is found inland in small numbers-singly, pairs or small parties-about jheels, marshland, and rivers, but it is rather more plentiful along our seacoasts (Salim Ali). It is active during both day and night but its call is mostly heard at night. "The commo- nest notes are a loud musical quoi quoi and crooee, crooce, crooee,... with the second syllable higher-pitched and more emphatic than the first and often uttered in long sequences. The song begins with a succession low long drawn-out liquid notes, the first three or four delivered in a rather slow measured manner, Oorrr-oorrr-oorrr..., then gaining speed and passing into a louder and higher-pitched bubbling trill impossible to render in words, finally sinking again and often ending with some low notes like the opening ones" (Smythies). S. Baker describes the notes of the Curlew as a haunting cry of 'curlew cur-lew' heard far overhead at night and a loud screaming note when frightened or disturbed. It is quite possible that the Curlew in India does not give us its full repertoir but a shorter version of it. The relevance of the above detailed description of the bird's "plaintive voice" fully manifests itself when we come to references to F (masc. , the Curlew) in Sanskrit literature. The name ge ( is probably a copying error) in the single-names-list of g is perhaps different from the feminine of of the equation":" in the same lexicon and most probably refers to this bird. In other lexicons, however, the synonymy is comprehensive enough. The following simile based on the plaintive notes of the Curlew gives us a very vivid picture of the sorrowful wail of a young lady in distress: तां कन्दमानामत्यर्थं कुररीमिव वाशतीम् । करुणं बहुशोचन्तीं विलपन्तीं मुहुर्मुहुः ॥ महाभारत, 3.63.20 Curlew, Godwit, Sandpiper, Ruff & Reeve, Woodcock, & Snipe माधव, the hero of the drama मानतीमाधव by भवभूति compares the soft and high pitched piteous cries of his beloved sacrificed to the goddess as she is on the point of being with the 'most mournful wail' of the bird: नादस्तावद्विकलकुररीकूजितस्निग्धतारः । चित्ताकर्षी परिचित इव धोवसंवादमेति ॥ Act V. 20 One of a group of love-lorn maidens () of Gokul, when they find it impossible to go to sleep at night for thinking of their beloved Krsna, questions a solitary Curlew calling in the air in the following words: कुररि ! विलपसि त्वं बीतनिद्रा न शेषे, स्वपिति जगति राज्यामीश्वरो गुप्तबोधः । वयमिव सखि ! कच्चिद्गाढनिर्भिन्न चेता, नलिननयनहासोदारलीलेक्षितेन ॥ भागवत, 10.90.15. It will be noticed that both the above examples relate to occurrences late in the evening or at night when the Curlew is often heard high up. 365 4. When Rama returns to his hermitage after killing Marica he expresses his fears to his brother that Sità has probably been carried away by blood-thirsty Raksasas and how she must have wailed like a g: "T विनादं कुररीव दीना, सा मुक्तवत्यायतकांतनेवा"- रामायण, 3.63, 11. Similarly the wail of Sità, when she was abandoned by Lakṣmaṇa at the bidding of Rama near the hermitage of sage Valmiki, has been compared by Kalidasa to the plaintive cries of the कुररी : सा मुक्तकण्ठं व्यसनातिभारात् चकन्द विग्ना कुररीव भूयः । ततोऽनिरुद्धस्य गृहे रुरुदुः सर्वयोषितः । प्रियं नाथमपश्यन्तः कुरयं इव सङ्घशः ॥ Raghu, 14.68. The following verses refer to the great sorrow of the ladies and maids at the palace of prince area who had been suddenly abducted away at night, and the poct wishing to present an impressive picture of the pathetic scene has campared their wail to the plaintive cries of hundreds of Curlews:- हरिवंश, 2.121, 1. तासां हम्पंतलस्थानां पूर्ण आसीन्महास्वनः । कुररीणामिवाकाशे रुदतीनां सहस्रशः ॥ Ib, 2.121, 12,
