25 MARTINS AND SWALLOWS 1. The Swallows resemble each other very closely in structure, differ- ing only in the shape of the tail, which, however, is different in almost every species and cannot be considered a generic character. They have, therefore, been classified according to their colour-pattern and habits. Even in Europe at the present day people confuse a Martin for a Swallow and vice versa. 2. Swifts at a distance resemble Swallows and in common parlance both are known as are in Hindi but the former belong to a differ- ent Order of Birds (Art. 45). The chief difference between the two is that while Swallows have the first toe directed backwards and the remain- ing three forwards Swifts have all the four toes directed forwards. This results in different perching habits for the two kinds of birds. Swallows can freely perch on trees, telegraph wires, buildings and on the ground but Swifts cannot do so except on their nest, and once a Swift finds itself on the ground it cannot get back into the air except with the greatest difficulty. Because of this weakness they have been named कृश and दुर्बल or दुर्बलिक in Sanskrit. Swallows and Martins with the exception of the Sand-Martin build cup or retort-shaped nests of mud and have therefore been termed w (fr. w in what must have been its original sense, viz., an earthen. pot or vessel; Cf. कौलालकं पटादि भाण्डम् - हम शब्दानुशासन ). Nevertheless they came to be confused with the Swallows at a very early date as may be seen from the statement "दुर्बलिको भाण्डीक: प्राच्यानाम्" in the बृहत्संहिता, 88.7. 3. In spite of the confusion in the popular mind and even on the part of the writers like वराहमिहिर, the धन्वन्तरि निघण्टु has curiously enough distinguished three different kinds of these birds: "चटी चटक इत्युक्तो, भारद्वाजो, नहिः कुटिः । चटकोऽन्यश्चतुर्थस्तु खञ्जरी चलपिच्छकः ।। viz. (i) चटी or चटक (ii) भारद्वाज and (iii) नहि कुटि. The equation "बञ्जरी चलपिच्छक:" refers either to the Pipit or to the Redstart. धन्वन्तरि has भारद्वाज 1. 6.3.194 2. निषण्ट रत्नाकर has the incorrect reading of अहिकुटी which is equated with भरद्वाज पक्षी. 99 Martins and Swallows and are separetaly for Larks. Small Swallow-like birds are mentioned by the name of es in the age group of birds in independently of ferr: for the Sparrow-group, as is interpreted by the commentator चक्रपाणिदत as "चटकस्तु देवकुलचटक: स्वल्पप्रमाण:." The expression देवकुलचटक would include the Common House Swift, the Indian wire-tailed and Striated Swallows all of which nest in cliffs, caves, under bridges, houses and temples (). The now extant greifar also mentions 2 as one of the fag: and the reference is to (i) the Sand Martins which nest in sandy cliffs and banks in the vicinity of running water and spend the greater part of their waking hours hawking insects over the surface of the water, placid or running, and out of the breeding season roost in the reed-beds bordering water; (ii) the Wire-tailed Swallows which again are essentially birds of the neighbourhood of water, skimming over the surface for insects; and (iii) the highly gregarious Cliff Swallows which nest in colonies and hawk for insects in big flocks in the near vicinity of water. It will be noted that all these belong to the Swallow group and the synonyms and like must refer to the Swallows proper. The term, in the sense of a small bird, is also used for a Swift (Art. 45). The name , on the other hand, excludes the Sand Martins, which tunnel a long hole for their nest in a Sand-bank and do not construct f mud stuck to a wall or rock-face. a nest 4. The aext name in धन्वन्तरि isभारद्वाज (भरन् धारको वाजोऽस्य - borne high on wings). w is also the Skylark which again flies strongly and very high. Now and ge are synonymous terms, and when the latter means 'a Swift' (Art. 45) the former too must be another name for it. कृश as a bird in the far gas has been explained differently by the two com- mentators (i) as गोमेणक (गवि आकाशे मिणमिणति ?), a black and long-tailed bird (gr), referring probably to the Wire-tailed Swallow, and (ii) as भारद्वाज. If the identity of कृश and भारद्वाज with दुर्बल is accepted, all three would mean a Swift and the reference to the Wire-tailed Swallow by one of the commentators must be held erroneous. 5. The third variety in धन्वन्तरि is नहि कुटि: (नहिकुटि: ?) (कुटि, a hut or a nest; cf. feges, a destroyer of a nest, in the title of the Kuti- dūsaka Jataka), a name which has survived in Bengal as fes for the Indian Sand Martin, and would seem to apply to the Crag Martin 3. 11.1.2 at page 313 of the Notes. The arg, 1.7, also mentions as a bird of the class, and the expression ":" occurring there probably means the birds living in human habitations. 4. This appears, probably by metathesis, as get in the list of edible birds in the हारीत संहिता Ch. 11- "पोतकी भूङ्गिका क्षुद्रा तथा च कुनटी स्मृता एते तुल्यगुणा ज्ञेया:". The little fer is the same as mentioned earlier (ib.) as a water-bird, both referring to the steel-blue swallow which hawks insects over water; Cf. : the large black-bee and a Drongo, and for the Purple Sun-Bird of a deep blue-black colour.
