6 BULBULS 1. The Bulbuls constitute a large and widely distributed family of small birds, and every part of India claims at least a few varieties as familiar deni- zens of towns, gardens, or the forest. They are arboreal by habit, keeping to the trees and bushes, and are fairly bold. Having short, weak legs they do not often descend to the ground. They have pleasant notes and are "extremely cheerful birds, always in an optimistic frame of mind and any garden is the richer for their lively, restless presence and constant gay notes". Sanskrit names are available for three distinct groups of Bulbuls common in North India, viz.: (i) the dark-grey and black-headed Red-vented Bulbuls; (ii) those with contrasting colours about the region of the ear, e.g. the White-cheeked, the White-eared, and the Red-whiskered Bulbuls, all of a grey-brown colour; and (iii) the Black Bulbul with noisy and discordant notes. The following lexical information is available about these birds:- (1) "पेचस्तु मेचको 'ज्ञेयो पुच्छान्तर्भागलोहितः”–धन्वन्तरिनिघण्टु; (2) "प्रथ गोवत्सा रक्तवर्णका पर्यटका कणिकिका रक्ता लट्वाऽपरा च सा पुच्छाधः पीतवर्णाऽथ फेञ्च: पोटियक: पुनः श्रीकर्णो नीलचटक इत्यादयः"* -कल्पद्रुकोश (3) "कृष्णचूड: कृमिरिपुः वुल्वुलो नीलपिङ्गलः–पञ्चतत्त्वप्रकाश Of the above names of mentions alone but furnishes an additional name for the black-headed and black-crested Bulbuls taken together (arre charcoal, hence 'of a dark or black colour'; 1. is descriptive of the generally dark colour of the plumage of these birds. 2. Subject to the alternative readings of and af for कणिकिका every name in this list stands for a particular bird or insect in वसन्तराज. and 3. tef is descriptive of the generally 'brown' body-plumage of the black- headed or black-crested Bulbuls. Persian 'Bulbul' has been Sanskritized into er! 4. In the Marathi notes on चरकसंहिता (नि. सागर प्रेस. 1922) अङ्गारवूडक has been correctly rendered as Bulbul. Bulbuls चूडा crest, top or head). सुश्रुतसंहिता also mentions the सट्वा' and the बृहत्संहिता has and which last is not a bird but an insect and the name has been listed in by mistake. To my knowledge is the only major work on augury which mentions all the bird and insect- names listed in the above extract from. It s really a mixed list for Bulbuls, other birds and a couple of noisy insects, and I believe that the author of g has drawn a good deal upon for compiling his long list of birds. The above names occur in वसन्तराज, 8. 46-52 (pp. 247-250). 2. The commonest Bulbuls of North India, viz., the Central Indian. and the Bengal Red-vented Bulbuls were probably the first recipients of the now popular name of 'Bulbul' at the hands of the Muslims who, wanting to find an Indian substitute for their favourite Bulbul, the Persian Nightin- gale, immortalized in song by great pocts like Hafiz and others, chose these cheerful birds for the compliment. The name has stuck so well that the people have almost forgotten their old Hindi name, afer ("black- headed', the same as अङ्गारचूडक of चरक, and its later equivalent, कृष्णचूड of ). It is worth noting that the F.B.I. also records 'rg' as a Hindi name against the above named Red-vented Bulbuls and no others. 35 3. The author of g has given either his own emendations or alternative readings of गोवत्सा, कणिकिका, and पर्वण्टिका for गोवत्सक, कणियक, and पर्यान्दिका respectively of वसन्तराज where रला and कर्णियक are mentioned together:---- "शशस्तौ रलाकणियकौ च वामौ सवलगुला चर्मचटौ प्रयाणे" – 1.8.47. (see If for like is also some noisy insect, as there is reason to believe, ff also will have to be excluded from the bird-list of last paragraph). The name corresponds to Hindi (wearing an ear-ornament, probably by association with fura, the name of a beautiful Apsară) which has been incorrectly recorded as 'Kandghara' and 'Kangdhara' in F.B.I. against the White-checked and White-eared Bulbuls through a phonetic error. Similarly Hindi for the Bengal Red-whiskered Bulbul is from Sanskrit fer which is common to several plants including Nerium odorum, having beautiful flowers worn by women in their ears for ornament and hence the name (cf. कणिका an ear ornament and also the name of a certain अप्सरा). कर्णिकार is in Prakrit and in Hindi so that the name for the Red- whiskered Bulbul is fully significant. 1. The name as a homonym has been applied to several birds e.g., (i) fr. 'a curl of hair on the forehead' it is the White-checked Bulbul as explained later on; (ii) 'a dancing boy', fr. 'a dancing girl'. it is the Fan-tail Flycatcher. Art. 11. and in the same sense (iii) the Short-toed Lark, Art. 27.
