12 Birds in Sanskrit Literature to the outer Himalayas and the valleys to the south including Nepal. They are long-tailed birds of arboreal habits, and their attitude when perched on trees or the uncommonly long tails of some of them drooping in a gentle curve probably suggested to the highly imaginative ancients the striking resemblance which their body-lines bear to the shape of the village-plough or its long shaft, or perhaps to a long-shafted hammer (; cf. their Hindi name महलाठ, fr. महा great and यष्टि लाठ लट्ठि– a stick or pole) and they gave them the common name of or reft, and differ- entiated three principal types as under :- (i) (ii) (iii) g (M. W.)-the Indian, the Bengal and the Himalayan Tree- pies, the smallest of the series. (Matsya P.)- allied forms like the Kashmir and Black- rumped Magpies; and (Varahamihira)- the Red-billed and the Yellow-billed Blue Magpies, having the longest tails. 2. The treatment of these noisy birds by Varahamihira and Vasanta- raja from the point of view of augury goes to show that their sight or calls have the same value and this accounts for a mix up of the names of at least two different Magpies in the synonymy given in the far and in the terms used by Vasantaraja at several places in his work :- भष, कूटपूरि, कु-रवक, करायिका, पर्णकूटसंज्ञाः स्युः -Var. Br. S., 87, 4. करायिका, कुरुकुञ्चिता भष, कूटपूर, सोमटिका and दुर्गा Vasant. 4.21, 56-65; 11.2 & 5 It will be seen that names like भष, कुरवक, कुरुकुञ्चिता and करायिका (कु-राविका?) are after the harsh call-notes of the birds and have their analogues in feat and of the Hill-men for the Himalayan Tree-pie (F.B.I.). These names belong to the Tree-Pies which are the commonest members of the group found all over North India and elsewhere too. कराविका of वसन्त- is clearly an incorrect reading of the earlier of the Samhità. tafe, on the other hand, which may be rendered as 'the bird marked with a crescent' should be a Common name for all magpies (ft) as the white, lilac white or rufous red of the lower break has a sharp crescentic outline against the black upper breast in everyone of them it may well imply a mysterious bird, 1. also means a trick or anigma, and particularly as a bird of omen. 2. The Hindi and Urdu names corresponding to this area and Hd both mean- 'the Moon'. If the name is by any means the same as if which again means कलापक (कलाँ पाति) i.c, चन्द्रक the moon, it would be the same as सोमटिक and it is possible that is a scribe's error for f, prakrit for rf, meaning a little moon or part of a moon, Crows and their Allies 13 showing up a three quarters crescent of the moon. That leaves the name gf which may be explained in two ways: (a) 'approached or seen with difficulty' and hence, found in inaccessible places; and (b) having the dark or bluish complexion of the goddess of that name, described as "arret- पुष्पवर्णाभा" in कालिकापुराण, quoted under दुर्गा in Sabdakalpadrima. The expression means, 'of the colour of the linseed flowers, i.e., of a light blue colour. gf for a Magpie, therefore, should properly belong to the Blue Magpies of the Himalayas, gef is also the Blue Rock Thrush (Art. 10). 3. The classification of the series may now be considered further - (i) The Indian and the Himalayan Tree-pies belong to genus Dend- rocitta and closely resemble one another. They have sooty black head and neck, and buffish-brown upperparts with a tail of eight to eleven inches. Being the smallest of the group they are the कृशकूट (कृश small), कुरवक, भष (barking like a dog), fa etc., as noted above. In the commentary on Vasantarāja it is described as लम्बपुच्छा उपरिश्यामवर्णा and the position in which its movements and voice are to be studied for augury is when the bird is afgaar (ch. 11, 3), i.e., when it is perching on a tree outside the village or on an outer or exposed branch of a tree. Its voice is syllabified by Varahamihir as and by Whistler as 'kokli' or 'googely'. These particulars are more than sufficient to identify with the Tree-pie. Superstition surrounds the Magpie not only in India but also in England and Europe even at the present day. The Britannica, eleventh edition, refers to it in the following words "Superstition as to the appearance of the pie still survives even among many educated persons, and there are several versions of a rhyming adage... (which) all agree that the sight of a single pie presages sorrow". The authors of "Our Bird Book" (1947) also mention the common saying, "one for sorrow and two for joy" and add that in the former case people take off their hats to ward off the evil effect. In Indian literature too there is an occasional reference to the unlucky nature of the birds: यथाऽशुभ: कूटपक्षी सर्वशोकैः समुद्गतः । गृहं स प्रविशेद् यस्य तस्य नाशो भवेद् ध्रुवम् ।। -Padma P., Bhūmi Kh., 103, 70. On the other hand Vasantaraja mentions certain situations where the birds prove auspicious to the observer. 1. Cf. for the white-breasted kingfighter-Art. 41. 2. mar (a dog from its habit of eating its own vomit) in the list of birds in चरक is the same as भष of the बृहत्संहिता बालाद in M. W. is incorrect. In the first part of the list of t: in the dog is mentioned as T as one of the animals of prey.
