1. Birds comprised within the Heron group are easily distinguished from the storks by their thin, dagger-shaped and pointed bills. The epithet or adnoun w for a Heron is really descriptive of the whole group as कृशचञ्चुबका as against बृहच्चञ्चुबकाः for the Storks (बृहन्चञ्चु-पक्षिविशेषे दीर्घपादे, i.e. a Stork- शब्दार्थचिन्तामणि; दीपंपाद, a long-legged heron- M. W.) Barring a couple of exceptionally large Herons, like Great White-bellied Heron of Bhutan, the majority of the birds in this group are of medium and small size which also helps to separate them from the much heavier and long legged Storks. 82 HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS 2. The typical Herons, with the exception of the Pond-Heron, are fairly large birds, over a yard long, and their plumage is a mixture of grey, white and black or these with some rufous-buff and chestnut. The com- monest are the Grey Heron and the so-called Purple Heron which has no purple in its plumage. 3. The Grey Heron (39"), who e prototype in Europe is known as the Blue Heron, is a tall grey bird marked with black and white, often seen brooding "almost motionless by the side of water." It has a long droop- ing black crest and white long feathers falling over the breast. It is a solitary bird and sometimes "wades in shallow water with slow deliberate paces, the neck outstreched" (Whistler), watching for fish or frog to come within striking distance. It is one of the five different birds bearing the common basic name of mentioned in the lexicons and is the (having a thin pointed bill), and simple or forg. for has as in the list of names for Herons, Egrets, etc., and as the term also means a cloud (cf. for 'a cloud' in M.W., and note that the black and white colour-pattern of the Grey Heron is also far) it should be another name for this bird. The complexion of lord Kṛṣṇa has been compared with the colour of a dark cloud and the plumage of the बलाहक bird : short. बलाहकाज्जननिभं बलाहकतनूरुहम् हरिवंश, 1.24. 1. कङ्कमुख quoted in forceps of सुश्रुत and कङ्कमुखबाण of रामायण (Cal. Edn.) 6.79.69 H, refer to the shape of the thin, pointed bill of this Heron or the next. It is rather significant to note that the bird is known in Hindi as (collyrium) which is also the colour of the cloud in the above verse. This Heron was a great favourite with falconers both in Europe and India and has been mentioned by the name of in श्वैनिकशास्त्र :- अतिदूरगतानान्तु कङ्कदात्यूहपक्षिणाम् । लक्ष्ये मोको बर्य्या हि जनयत्यद्भूतं रसम् ।। - 6.37. 4. The Grey Heron is not a skulker like its cousin, the Purple Heron, and has been the subject of popular observation so that its ways have been well described as a 6 in poetry :- Again, स्थित्वा धैर्यादुपाम्भः समजठरशिराचक्रमूत्तिर्मुहूर्तम् । धूर्त: संत्यक्ततीर: कतिचिदपि पदात्युच्चकैः कुञ्चिताघ्रिः । पश्चाग्रीवां प्रसायं त्वरितगतिरपां मध्यमाविश्य चञ्च्वा चञ्चन्तीमूवंकण्ठः कथमपि शफरीं स्फारिताक्षो बकोऽत्ति ॥ न भ्रूणां स्फुरणं न चन्च चलनं नो चूलिकाकम्पनं न ग्रीवाचलनं मनागपि न यत्पक्षद्वयोत्क्षेपणम् । नासाग्रे क्षणमेकपाददमनं कष्टकनिष्ठं परं यावत्तिष्ठति मीनहीनवदनस्तावद् बकस्तापसः ।। -सुभाषित, 208.24. -Ibid. 229.232. Reference to the birds' habits and the crest in these examples helps to identify the as the Grey Heron. 5. कङ्क as a sporting bird is also mentioned in the पद्मपुराण :- चकोरांच मयूरांच कङ्कतित्तिरिमूषकान, (कुक्कुटान् ? ) उत्तरखण्ड, 51.25. fe distinguishes the cautious and slow-stepping Grey Heron as f from the long-paced Adjutant, in describing the different styles of the movements of a horse trained for purposes of war. Slow and cautious steps are aff and high-stepping long-paced motion the कागति (अर्थशास्त्र, अधिकरण 2, ch. 30). The renderings of the different gaits or foot-movements of a horse have gone wrong at least in some cases in the translation by R. Samasastry. ef is not a crow as in M. Williams but the (Grey Heron) with its thin and sharp-pointed bill with which it spears fish in water. and faxr both equate it with and not काक. 6. The Eastern Purple Heron (38") is a bird of about the same size as the Grey Heron whose prevailing colour is grey on the wings and back, black on the belly and chestnut in the remaining parts. It is a great skulker and spends most of its time amongst reeds in marshes, tanks, etc. It is intensely curious and its long neck may often be seen stretched up above the reeds
