142 Birds in Sanskrit Literature If such examples had not been true a compliment like चाटु-गाया-समुच्चारण contained in the following beautiful passage would not have been paid to a pet bird. The poet describes goddess bird- as playing with her pet "सर्वविद्याविशेषात्मकं, चाटुगाथासमुच्चारणं, कण्ठमूलोल्लसद्वर्णराजित्रयं, कोमलण्यामलोदारपक्षद्वयं, तुण्डशोभातिदूरीभवत्किंशुकं, तं शुकं लालयन्ती परिक्रीडसे ।।” काव्यमाला 1 श्यामला दण्डक 5 nor would poet at have written : “शुकः श्लोकान् वक्तुं प्रभवति न काकः ववचिदपि” काव्यमाला, 14, दृष्टान्तकलिकाशतक पू० 86 "नित्याकर्णनया शुकेन च पदं साम्नामिदं गीयते " नागानन्द 1.10 Compare also: 3. शुकसारिकाप्रलापन was one of the arts practised in India by professional men like the trainers of Song-finches, Canaries, Thrushes, etc. in Europe today, and no one need be surprised at the performances of exceptionally talented Parrots and Mainas recorded in Indian literature,¹ barring, of course, poetic exaggeration in attributing to them human intel- ligence and capacity to make impromptu replies or even to carry on a con- versation. I have myself heard a Rose-ringed Paroquet repeat the follow- ing Hindi verse without a hitch though the articulation was certainly not equal to that of the Maina- चित्रकूट के घाट पै भइ संतन की भीर। तुलसीदास चन्दन घिसें तिलक देत रघुबीर ।। i.e., "In the midst of a gathering of saints at the waters near Chitrakoot Tulsidas prepared the sandal-paste and god Rainachandra applied it to his forehead." 4. Literary tradition has regarded a talking Parrot () as the mate of a talking Hill-Maina (fr), and it is on this supposition that वर्ष is a Parrot and बचा a Maina, and if he is मेघावी she is मेधाविनि which, by the way, is also the name of a most intelligent Maina in , 2.5.6. Even Keśava, the commentator of the free, would seem to have succumbed to this tradition, for he renders of AV. 1.22.4 as og and, following him, Sāyaṇācārya also has translated cit.) as ft and again as t or female Parrot in his notes on aferd-figar 3.7.6 although in his commentary on RV. 1.50.12 he correctly explains the term to mean a सारिका. (loc. 1. Parrots taught to repeat Lord Buddha's maxims have been शासन कुशल in हर्षचरित, 8. 2. M. Bloomfield's edition, 1890, p. 326. The insertion of masculine gender would seem to be clerical errors. described as START काष्ठमुसुक and the A Paroquets or Parrots and 5. Common names for all Parrots, except the Loriquet are , but there is reason to believe that the larger members of the group were designated as and the smaller varieties like the Blossom-headed and the Slaty-headed Paroquets, which have a much softer voice than the former, as कोर (कीति अव्यक्त शब्द ईरयति ). Names like चिरि, चिमि, and चिमिक for a Parrot are also indicative of softer notes and must belong to them. This distinction still obtains in their vernacular names, c.g., or at for the large and get for the small Parrots in Hindi, and or and in Marathi. The mention of both and in the following extracts from (i) the Skanda Purana, Vaiṣṇavakhanda and (ii) Padma-Purāṇa, Uttarakhanda are clearly based upon the above distinction and fully support it : ( i ) मयुर-कीर-गरुड-शुक-सारस-संकुलान् (ii) 143 Venkatācala Mahatmya 5.52 हंसः कीरेषु पाण्डित्यं कुर्वाणैः सङ्कले शुकै" Ch. 180.21 In literature and lexicons, however, the difference between and कोर has been entirely done away with Adnouns like त्रिकेतु, रक्त-or वक्रतुण्ड, f, etc., apply to all Parrots but the epithet e belongs to a pet bird as 'always holding on to his perch-rod', and also, humorously, to his leading 'an ascetic and celibate life by compulsion'; cf. at fa सीवत: said of one in सुभाषितरत्नभाण्डागार p. 228, verse 222. मन्जुपाठक is true of only such birds as are able to talk. With these preliminary remarks I proceed to a consideration of indivi- dual names for the six species of Parrot found in North India. 6. The Large Ir dian Paroquet (21") is marked on the wing with a large maroon-red patch. The bill is wholly red as compared with others whose lower mandible is differently coloured, and the legs and feet are of a dirty-flesh colour. Being the largest Parrot of India it is the शतपत्नशुरू of the lexicons— or "अन्यो महान् राजशुक: शतपत्रो निगद्यते" धन्वंतरि No Indian Parrot has red legs and the epithet for one may be rendered as red-marked' (पाद: चिह्नः अङ्क: वैजयन्ती and fवश्व) and in this sense it should belong to this bird after the conspicuous red wingpatches rather than the colour of the feet. The Blossom-headed Paroquet also has a small and inconspicuous red spot on the wing but is better named y after its deep purplish-red head. Other poetic names for this bird are प्राश, वाग्मिन्, नृपप्रिय, etc. 7. The Rose-ringed Paroquet (16") is the commonest and by far the most numerous of all and, as it moves in large flocks, it is the one that is responsible for a major part of the total damage caused to the crops by all the Parrots put together. It is the anger (ange fer, very prolific?) of the lexicons but its proper name is (wild or inferior) both
