424 Birds in Sanskrit Literature हंसोऽपि हिमकर्पूरशीतांशुरजतयुतिः । वरुणस्य वराज्जातस्त| येशप्रीतिमान्सदा ॥ - रामायणमंजरी, 7.339.1 The of the story is clearly a Swan and the change of colour from Juvenile to adult plumage has been explained mythically. The mount of ब्रह्मा ( हंसवाहन) is also a Swan so that the epithet सुरप्रिय for a हंस denotes a Swan-see para. Il of this and para. 6 of section B. (1) The young Whooper is pale grey-brown throughout but the adult is pure white; the bill black with a yellow base, legs and feet black. The male bird. nearly five feet long, has a wing span of about eight feet and weighs up to 19 lbs. General Osbourne, who shot one out of four Whoo- pers on the Beas (fr) in the Hoshiarpur district of the Punjab in 1900, says about the wounded bird, as long as its companions remained in sight it continued to utter its long, loud, musical trumpet call" (Stuart Baker). According to Hume and Marshall also this Swan has a loud and musical call which much resembles 'hoop' 'hoop' but when uttered by a large flock of different sexes and ages and mellowed by the winds and waves has "a really fine effect". Flocks fly in V-forma- tion and smaller numbers in a line (Edmund Sandars). It breeds on the northern shores of the Caspian, Asiatic tundras and probably as far as South Seistan so that "breeding so near India as this we may hope to have many more records of its visiting our borders" (S. Baker). This Swan has frequently occurred in the Punjab and Sind, and has been observed in Nepal and even in Rajasthan.3 The breeding and the other habits of all Swans are alike. When nests placed in shallow water or on the borders of marsh or swamp are threatened by flood they raise the level of the nests by introducing new materials under the eggs to protect them from danger. "They are very good parents and look after their young with the greatest care, the duck- bird often carrying her young ones about on her back whenever they want a rest." No wonder the Swan is a wise bird in Epic and story-literature. Bewick's Swan is very similar and subequal in size to the Whooper. It has occurred in the Punjab and Sind aud must have passed for a Whooper in the past. (2) The Mute Swan is also wholly white when adult with the base of the bill, the knob and the nail black, and the remainder of the 1. तोयेश the मानसरोवर lake the mythical home of all Swans and Geese; hence also the name सरप्रिय for Swans as v.l for सुरप्रिय 2. Game Birds of India, Burma and Ceylon 1881. 3. Poet 74, it will be seen, rightly places a flight of Swans in the autumnal sky at in the Kathiawar peninsula, not far from the Sind coast:- "स्मितसरोरुहनेद्रसरोजलाम् अतिसिताङ्ग विहङ्ग इसर्विम् । अकलयन् मुदितामिव सर्वतः स शरदं शरदन्तुरदिङ मुखाम् The स्कन्द पुराण pt. 4, ।। अर्बुदखण्ड, Ch. 30.56 places the धार्तराष्ट्र or Whooper Swan in the neighbourhood of the Aravali Hills in Rajasthan, and this is correct. 4. F.B.I. & S. Baker. Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers bill reddish horny. The legs and feet are dull black. The colour- pattern of the young is different from the young of the Whooper. The head is brown with white tips of the feathers; sides of the head and neck are mixed grey and white; upper parts pale grey-brown and underparts white suffused with grey-brown. Its nearest breeding place is in Western Turkestan and Siberia and it is a regular winter visitor to the Northwest straggling up to Rawalpindi and Sind. They often keep in pairs and when one of a pair is wounded the other keeps company and often pays dearly for his fidelity. Parties of eight to ten birds have been observed in the Punjab. They are as large as the Whooper but have a very weak voice and for this reason are known as the Mute Swans. Both parents vigorously defend their nest and young. The female when disturbed hisses angrily and the male utters a defiant grunt. The Whooper and the Mute sometimes hybridise with each other. 425 (3) Cygnus davidii is a much smaller species. It is entirely white like other two but has the bill vermilion-red with the nail black, and legs and feet orange. It is apparently a very rare bird but an instance of its occur- rence in Dera Ghazi Khan (Punjab) in the year 1892 is given by Le Messurier in his book. 3. The Rg Veda contains references to ge as (i) a solitary bird (ii) going in pairs, and (iii) flying and calling together in a line. There is also mention of the egg, the Bar-head Goose (Section B, para 5). The following references are evidently to the Swan : The plant when crushed exudes the juice with a hissing sound duc to air bubbles coming out and bursting. This is compared to the hissing of a Swan when disturbed on the water :- “श्वसित्यप्सु हंसो न सीदन्- RV 1.65.5. We have seen that the female of the Mute Swan hisses angrily when disturbed. Writing about the voice of Swans, B. Vesey Fitzgerald also says "The Mute Swan very rarely does more than hiss severely at un- welcome visitors." It is, therefore, incorrect to translate affar as "pants" as Griffith does, for there is no reason for the bird of powerful flight to 'pant' and the comparison is between the effects produced on the and ge when they are teased (crushed being the proper word for corres- ponding to 'teased' or 'annoyed' for the ge). The Sun is called "ge: fr" in RV 4.40.5, and the reference can only be to a solitary Swan floating upon a wide expanse of deep blue water, Cf: प्रजगाम नभश्चन्द्रो हंसो नीलमिवोदकम् । -रामायण, 5.17.1. The Asvins invited to the Soma sacrifice like a pair of Swans hastening to the water:- हंसाविव पततमा सुतां उप- RV 5.78.1-3. 1. Birds, Trees and Flowers, p. 57.
