83 FLAMINGOS 1. Flamingos, with very long necks and legs and thick bills, 'broken' or bent in the middle, are quite unlike other birds and appear to stand in a class by themselves, but from anatomical and other features they would seem to occupy a position intermediate between the Storks () on one side and the Geese and Ducks () on the other. They combine the look of a Stork and the ways, and voice of a Goose. They have indeed been placed by scientists sometimes with the Ciconiiformes (Stork-like birds) and at others with Chenomorphae (Swans, Geese, and Ducks), and although Stuart Baker has "for the present" separated them under Order Phoenicopteri (Phoenicopterus, 'red-winged'-a Flamingo-the 'flame- coloured') he is strongly inclined to the opinion that they will have to be finally classed with the Swans and Geese under one common Order. It is interesting to note in this connection that, except for its original Vedic name of or, so named after its extraordinarily long and very flexible neck, the later Sanskrit names for the Flamingo, viz., , ere, and even , seem to recognise its affinity to the Swan or Goose on the one hand and to the Storks on the other. Again, names like or quita (having a thin, long neck like a paraphrase of the original or lotus stalk) are merely a 2. India claims two out of the five known species of Flamingo, viz., the Common Flamingo (50") and its smaller cousin, the Lesser Flamingo (33"). The former has one of its breeding sites in the Rann of Kutch¹ 1. बरुकच्छ (बकविशिष्ट बकप्रधानो वा कच्छः जलप्रान्तः) as an ancient place-name pro- bably belonged to what is today the Rann of Kutch in Western India where Flamingos are known to breed in their thousands. According to the St. Petersberg and M. Williams' Die- tionaries the name is mentioned in कथासरित्सागर, 6.76 & 166 but the निर्णयसागर edition of the work reads w instead and it is placed on the Narmada. weg is Prakrit for which has been correctly identified with the present Broach or wt. Evidently is a different place and is probably the Rann of Kutch or the island of Kutch to the south of it. The name is analogous to other place-names like खट्वाङ्गवन, वन, que, etc., named after the particular birds that abounded at each of these places. My friend, Dr. Raghu Vira, brought to my notice the name of another country viz. arr (T) mentioned as a country of the Mlechhas or Non-Aryans in the ancient Jaina Flamingos 409 A within Indian limits, while the nearest breeding grounds of the latter are on the shores of the Red Sea, but so far as the mainland of India is concerned both the species are winter visitors, arriving about September and leaving for their breeding homes in May-June and some time as late. as July. Both move in parties or large flocks though the Lesser Flamingo s an erratic visitor, occurring plentifully in the North-West up to the Sambhur Lake in Rajasthan in certain years and scarce or altogether absent in others.¹ 3. The Common Flamingo (50") is a tall, white bird with rosy upper parts, black flight-quills, a flame-red patch on the wing and scarlet axillaries and underwing coverts. The eyes are yellow, the orbital skin pink to bright red, bill flesh-coloured and legs pinkish-red. With very long legs and neck it stands about four feet high but its body is no bigger than that of a common Goose. The heavy 'goosy' bill with an obtuse bend in the middle, the upper mandible freely moveable as if on a hinge (unlike the Goose whose lower mandible is moveable) and adapted for feeding. in an inverted position is characteristic. Its webbed feet, anserine voice and the fact that young chicks are active as soon as hatched link it up more closely with the Swans and Geese than its long legs with the Storks. Nevertheless this apparently dual character of the Flamingo is reflected. both in its Sanskrit and vernacular names: Sanskrit-, (fr. 'to curve or become small' after the long, flexible neck which when coiled round the body and with head tucked into the back makes the bird look very much smaller than at other times) बलाक, बक after its superficial resemblance to a Stork ( बक); वर हंस (बरं, कुडू, मे, श्रेष्ठे; cf. वरा turmeric; and hence either a superior type of Goose' or 'the Red-Goose' as it is actually called in Persian. 4. The effect that the Flamingo, seen singly or in the mass, whether on its feeding grounds or high up in the air, produces upon a cultured mind cannot be described better than in the words of Stuart Baker- "Although so ungainly in shape when viewd individually, the Flamingo when seen in the vast herds in which they so often collect is one of the most beautiful of Avian sights. In the distance they look like a field of work, जम्बूद्वीप प्रज्ञप्ति, 3.52. We will see in later paragraphs that बक, बलाक, and the femi- within. Aryan limits nine TT, are names of the Flamingo in Sanskrit, so that if a is the Rann of Kutch, may well refer to the territory near the Red Sea where the Lesser Flamingos breed. It is, therefore, highly probable that the ancient Indians knew the two nearest breeding grounds of both kinds of Flamingo. 1. The Lesser Flamingo is more richly coloured than the Common Flamingo and there is some crimson on the tail feathers as well. The eyes, bill and legs are different shades of red. In its habits it closely resembles the common Flamingo.
