130 Birds in Sanskrit Literature suffer the torture and humiliation of seeing his own sweetheart being pur- sued by others:- "भ्रातृभार्या तु पापात्मा यो धर्षयति मोहितः । पुंस्कोकिलत्वमाप्नोति सोऽपि संवत्सरं नृप । महाभारत, 13.111.76 (ii) Those who have listened to the first broken and incomplete notes of the Cuckoo in early spring will appreciate the following :- "कण्ठेषु स्खलितं गतेऽपि शिशिरे पुंस्कोकिलानां रुतम् ।" शाकुन्तल, 6.4 "गायन्तो गलरागमङकुररस तस्य चञ्चुक्षते- श्च्योतभ्दिः शिशिरोपरोधशिथिलं पुष्णन्ति पुंस्कोकिलाः ।” "प्रथममन्यभृताभिरुदीरिताः सुभद्राधनञ्जय, 2.9 प्रविरला इव मुग्धवधूकथाः ।" रघुवंश, 9.34 As the season advances the voice becomes fuller and sweeter "चूताङकुरास्वादकषायकण्ठः पुंस्कोकिलो यन्मधुरं चुकूज" कुमारसंभव, 3.32 adding character to mountain scenery:- “प्रमत्तपुंस्कोकिलसंप्रलापैहिमालयोऽतीव तदा रराज ।" ब्रह्मपुराण, 36.116. No poetic embellishment however can match the following simple state- ment about the peculiar charm that the Cuckoo lends to sylvan surroundings "कोकिलानां रुतैः पुण्यैः सर्वत्र मधुरायते।" पद्मपुराण, भूमिखंड, 24.38 6. Cuckoos whose calls are different from those of the birds men- tioned above are: (i) the Hawk Cuckoo, the Common and the Large; (ii) the Plaintive Cuckoo; (iii) the Banded Bay Cuckoo; (iv) the Violet Cuckoo; (v) the Emerald Cuckoo; (vi) the Drongo Cuckoo; (vii) the Pied Crested Cuckoo and (viii) the Red-Winged Crested Cuckoo. The first three and No. (vii) go under the common name of चातक in Sans- krit, as their notes are plaintive in character. The breeding time for these often runs into the rainy season and the males are then very vocal. This coupled with the fact that they derive all the moisture they need from their soft food consisting of caterpillars and various kinds of figs etc. and are therefore not seen to visit the water, has given rise to the popular fiction that they drink only rain-drops and that ground water is harmful to them —“ घरणीपतितं तोयं चातकानां सृजाकरम्. Hence also the conceit that their persistent calls are an appeal to the rain-cloud for a few drops to cool their parched throats. This interesting belief has given us some very beautiful अन्योक्ति type of poetry. 4. Quoted by M. R. Kale in his notes on रघुवश 5.17. Cuckoos 131 7. पंपका are certain birds in the बेस्संतर जातक, पम्पा in Prakrit means पिपासा or thirst; and पम्पा is the name of a lake and a river. The word पंपक would thus appear to have some connection with water or the desire for it, and पंपका is probably the Pali equivalent of चातका: which are supposed to be ever thirsty. No other name for the चातक appears in the long lists of birds occurring in the Jātaka and it is far too important a bird to be omitted. कल्पद्रुकोश gives a mixed list of synonyms for the चातक :- "अथ चातक: घनाखच वापीहः सारङगो मेघजीवनः । वर्षप्रियः विशडख: स्यात्स्तोको बभ्रुहरीतक: कपिञ्जलोऽपि हारीतः तञ्जलो, " and looking to some of them, like सारङ्ग, बघ, कपिज्जल, हारीत, etc. which clearly indicate the colour of the plumage, it is impossible to say that they all belong to only one kind of bird. The list certainly includes the names. of several kinds of चातक. Thus धनाख, वापीह (Hindi, पपीहा), कपिज्जलs, and बघु (Cf. wt for it in Bengal) are clearly for the very noisy Hawk Cuckoos which are of a grey-brown colour ( बधू, पिज्जर); वर्षप्रिय, वरिषाप्रिय (M.W.) and विशख (having a triple note) are for the Plaintive Cuckoo which is known as पौस्या or पाउस्या in Marathi (from Prakrit पाउस and Sanskrit प्रावृष, प्रावृषिक) and has a triple call of 'whe-whe-ew' or 'pi pi-yu'; सारग (Pied or variegated) is the larger form of the Pied Crested Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus) and finally हारीत and हरीतक (of a green colour) clearly point to the Emerald Cuckoo, for हारीत is also a name for the Emerald Dove and the Green Pigeon. Its call, according to S. Bakers is “a shrill but not unmusical succession of three notes". The Violet Cuckoo occurs in Assam but not to the west of it. It is generally a silent bird and has no Sanskrit name for itself. 8. शब्दार्थचिन्तामणि has "राजपट्टिका चातकखगे" and the name राजपट्टिका (adorned with bars or stripes) clearly refers to the Banded Bay Cuckoo. which is barred brown and rufous all over including the head and the face. The call notes of this bird are not unlike those of the Plaintive Cuckoo but it also has another call resembling the Cuckoo's 'Bo-ko- ta-ko', though much higher. 9. The following verse from the महाभारत mentions the bird प्रियक with चातक : "प्रियकैनातकैश्चैव तथान्यै विविधैः खगैः ।" 3.158.53 Now प्रियक also means a black bee' or भृङ्ग and भुग is also the Drongo. The Drongo Cuckoo "is remarkable for its extra-ordinary resem- 5. 6. कपिजल क ईषत् पिज्जर वर्ण: ? Second Edition of F.B.I.
