Sanskrit Literature equation "शिबी चन्द्रविहङ्गमः"विकाण्डशेष refers to it as शिखी (crested) and चन्द्र for (shining like the moon and hence, white). Prakrit सेडी for a kind of bird in अभि. राजेन्द्र is the same as श्वेता for बलाका; cf. सेडिया-श्वेतिका, खटिका (Ibid), i.e. chalk. For बलाका as the female of the Flamingo see Art. 83. (d) The Cattle Egret (20") is also a ef but as it undergoes a change of colour from white into a beautiful golden-buff on the head, neck and back during the breeding season it has been named farger or पिङ्गलिका and करायिका in Sanskrit though name appears to be a Prakrit form. This Egret is a constant companion of cattle as it feeds on their insect parasites and chiefly on grass-hoppers and other insects distur- bed by them while grazing, and this habit accounts for yet another name, गोबक for it corresponding to गाय बगला or ढोरिया बगला (डोर-cattle) in Hindi. 9. The Pond Heron or Paddy-bird (18") is the commonest of the family and seen sitting hunched up on the mud, standing knee-deep in the water along the edges of tanks, streams, etc., or on water plants among the lilies and lotuses. "Its dull colours assimilate with the mud and the herbage, and the bird is tame and confiding, with the result that it is seldom noticed until it rises close to the passer-by, springing into life with a sudden flash of the white wings. To this invisibility is due the name of 'blind-heron' that it bears in several dialects (Whistler). It is known in Hindi as spare (Sanskrit or re). The lexicons do not give the Sanskrit terms placed within brackets, but there seems to be little doubt that the bird had them for its names. The commentator of 44, however, gives अन्धका in the sense of जलकारु, as a synonym for दाचूह अन्ध means both 'ditch water' and 'a blind person'. p is also a particular type of fame or wandering mendicant:- 404 तिष्ठतो ब्रजतो वाऽपि यस्य चक्षुनं दूरगम् । चतुष्पदां भुवं मुक्त्वा परिव्राडन्ध उच्यते ॥ Birds -Apte's Practical Sansk. Eng. Dict., 1890 The point about this definition is that the mendicant is not supposed to look beyond a space of four paces or feet about him. Next, there is the special meaning of ara in the freed- अन्धो भग इत्याहुरनुत्सृप्तो न दृश्यते - 12.14.1. Here the sun, not visible until it rises above the horizon, is called and the special meaning of art is explained as under:- नास्मिन् द्रष्टुणां ध्यानं दर्शनमस्तीति अन्धः which means that an object which escapes observation is known as (blind). The idea of absence of movement or movement upwards ( r) is also involved. The invisibility of the Pond Heron as it sits 1. अन्धं तु कलुषं तोयं-हेमचन्द्र (शेषनाममाला) and hence 'puddle on pond the name apers thus corresponds to "Pond-Heron", Herons, Egrets and Bitterns 405 hunched up, camouflaged in its surroundings and intently watching a few feet of mud or water about it for prey, and the sudden white flash with which it rises are thus fully comprehended in the name and also probably in , the popular Hindi name for it, is just a rendering of these names and in the sense discussed above. Names like are and for Herons and Storks (4) humorously refer to their habit of standing on one leg and apparently innocuous contemplation until an unwary frog or fish appears on the scene. The term for a very small Heron should belong to this, the most common member of the group. The Pond Heron, like the Little Egret, grows a long white occipital crest in the breeding season and for this reason shares the name of staf with the Egret, the Night Heron and the Little Green Heron (See Art.71 for the different meanings of tafe). In the verse below af affecting a Pond (during the day) is this Heron or the Little Egret :- बककोयष्टिभिर्जुष्टे पत्वले मानसं कुतः । - सुभाषित, 221.7. 10. Bitterns and Night Herons, with the exception of the Bittern, are birds of a shorter and stouter build. They also differ from Herons and Egrets in that they are all night-birds and generally solitary at all times (Finn). They are designated as (Night-Herons) by in हस्त्यायुर्वेद, 2.20, निरीत or निशेड in the mixed synonymy of विकाण्डशेष, and रजनीबक in विष्णुधर्मोत्तर 1.151. 48 where रजनीयकान् is a wrong reading रजनीबकानू. after the (a) The Night Heron (23") is truly nocturnal in its habits. Not until has set for half an hour or so do the birds leave the trees where they remain all day in the deepest shade they can get. During flight they utter every few minutes a loud, though not unmusical, squak. It has several names in Hindi after its voice, वाक, क्वाक and कुकराई (क्वाकराविन् ? ) corresponding to Sanskrit वाक ("वाकश्चन्द्रविहङ्गमः"कल्प, चन्द्रविहङ्गम is thus the same as ). This equation corresponds to "firfag" both for the Little Egret which is crested and white and for are, the Night-Heron which is also crested, and the expression af as a homonym means (i) a white bird, as well as (ii) a night-bird or one that feeds during moon-light. Like the Little Egret the Night Heron also wears a crest of long, thin, black and white feathers and shares the name of tafe or af with it and also with the crested Little Green Heron, another night- bird. क्षीरस्वामी on अमर explains the name कोयष्टि as "ओको यजति कोयष्टि:" which fits in admirably with the habit of these night-birds resting all day in heavily foliaged trees. This fact has been beautifully brought out in the following verses :--- स मत्तकोयष्टिभकान् पादपान् पुष्पशालिनः । उद्वहन्नुरुवेगेन जगाम विमलेऽम्बरे — ॥ – Rāmāyapa, 5.1.44. काश्मर्याः कृतमालमुद्गतदलं कोयष्टिकष्टीकते - मालतीमाधव, 9.7-
