Birds in Sanskrit Literature heavy bill of over 2", is the largest member of the family. It is entirely a forest bird, feeds little on the wing and lives mainly on insects and honey which it seeks among the leaves and flowers on tree-tops. It utters its harsh double notes first with the head held low and the long blue throat feathers. puffed out; with each succeeding note the head is gradually raised and the last of the series is sounded with the head pointing straight up, perhaps reminiscent of the head movements the 3! The Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (9.5") captures its food on the wing and its evolutions in the air are extremely beautiful accompanied by a most musical trill, uttered every few minutes. It nests in banks of rivers or, like the Common Bee-eater, in almost level sandy ground. These Chestnut-headed are amongst the ear- liest bird risers and their pleasant notes may be heard almost with the first glimmer of light in the morning, especially if their roosting place is one among the tall reeds of a river bank. The Common Bee-eaters on the other hand are late risers and stir out only when the sun is well up.² shoot. 4. The Common Indian, the European, and the Blue-tailed Bee-eaters have the two middle tail feathers longer than the others, with their terminal portions narrow and a little separated from each other. In their very grace- ful sailing flight the outline of these birds resembles or recalls to one's mind the shape of a drawn bow with an arrow mounted on it ready The long, thin and sharply pointed bill represents the pointed head of the arrow and the square part of the tail, showing equally on both sides of the central tail feathers, corresponds to the feathered part of the arrow, while the projecting central feathers separated towards the end resemble the split end of the shaft (0) which rests on the bow-string where the bow- man grips and pulls it hard towards himself before letting the arrow go for the target. A good look at a Bee-eater during its sailing flight would bear out the picture suggested above. The Chestnut-headed and the Blue- bearded varieties have even tails, i.e. they lack the projected central tail feathers. 148 5. A majority of these birds include in their dietary a large proportion of honey-bees and hence the common English name of Bee-eater for them all." The oldest and the most-picturesque Sanskrit name for them, based upon their shape in flight and upon their surety of aim in catching flying insects (like a good marksman hitting the target with his arrow) is ( arrow) or (Visnu's bow; श्रृङ्गस्य विकार: शाङ्ग तद्वत् रूपं आचरण वा अस्य ). The tree (Pongamia glabra) when in blossom, is visited by large numbers of bees and the latter in turn attract the Bee-eaters. The tree 1. Cf. उद्गातेव शकुने साम गायसि said of the कपिज्जल bird in RV 243.2 The Bee eaters have been described as wgrafe:, 'prayer-singers' in MBh.; see below. 2. F.B.I. (Birds), second edition and The Book of Indian Birds' by Salim Ali where three of them are illustrated in colour. 3. This allied form (10.5") is confined to the extreme North-West of India including Kashmir. 4. They are a regular pest at all apiaries. Bee-eaters is therefore also known as (beloved of the Bee-eater) just as the शिरीष (Acacia sirissa ) is शुकेष्ट and the निम्ब (Melia azadirachta), काकेष्ट. Palias a bird-name in Vessantar Jataka, verse 2100, is the same as wri. 6. According to the वैजयन्ती कोश the terms शाङ्ग, कीर्ता and पिप्पिका are synonymous, which however is open to doubt as we shall presently see. The name कीर्णा (v.1. कीर्पा ) is perhaps derived from root कृ to draw or bend a bow' and corresponds in meaning to ff or mf, the feminine of शा; cf. कृशानु, (कृष्-कृश्, कति धनुम्), the archer who guards the Soma in heaven or atmosphere according to the Rgveda. पिप्पिका (v.I. पिप्पीका, पिप्पका ), feminine of fपप्पिक (पिप्पीक or fपप्पक) is apparently an imitative name after the call note of a particular Bee-eater. 149 7. These beautiful birds have secured a place of honour with others at the Aśvamedha ritual: (1) शार्ग: सृजयः शयाण्डकस्ते मैत्रा- कृकलास: पिप्पका शकुनिस्ते शख्यायै (2) (3) ( 4 ) वाज.सं.. 24.33. मैत्रा. सं., 3.14.14. वाज. सं., 24.40. मैत्रा.सं., 3.14.21. तैत्ति. सं., 5.5.19. काठ. सं., 5.7.9. तैत्ति. सं., 5.5.19. काठ. सं. 5.7.9. ब्रह्मणे शार्ग: - इन्द्राप्पै कीर्शा (कीर्षा in काठ. सं.) - तैत्ति.सं., 5.5.20. काठ. सं., 5.7.10. It will be seen that for the female of the fs Bee-eater has been dedicated to wear, the female deity presiding over 'marksmanship' or the 'art of archery' in all the four Samhitãs; the male wri is assigned to , the 'lord of prayer' or prayer personified, in the TS and to fa, the sun in a friendly aspect, in the VS; and the female turf is named for goddess it in the TS and KS. The names art and auf derived from and respectively, have apparently a similar significance and the male and female birds with these names, being dedicated to male and female deities, it would appear that they belong to the male and female of the same species of Bee-eater. In short, both these names correspond to (and or f of the Mahabharata; see below). The TS and KS mention all the three names in connection with different deities. and it follows that f and a (including af as shown above) are two different species of Bee-eater and the synonymy in dat is not wholly correct. 1. This dedication to given above. supports the derivation of from M. Williams regards was a w.r. of -but both appear to be correct Sanskrit forms.
