154 Birds in Sanskrit Literature only an integral but a most essential part of the hymn. They complete and round off the prayer beautifully upon a very optimistic note indeed. The AV and other Samhitäs have utilized them, not at all improperly, for purposes of a charm against fire. 41 THE KINGFISHERS 1. Kingfishers are usually brilliantly coloured in blue, green, chestnut and white, and can be recognised at sight. They excavate tunnels in the bank of a river or stream from one to five feet deep and egg-chambers are hollowed out at the farther end. 2. The common names for a Kingfisher are मत्स्य or मीन रङ्क (greedy of fish), a (a diver) and (plunging for food) but these have been mixed up in the glossaries with specific names for particular birds. Thus for example (dancing for fish) and have been incorrectly. regarded as synonymous through the influence of Prakrit where is changed into ग (cf. जलरङ्क= कोरंक, कोरंग). The former is specific for the Pied Kingfisher (12") as the very name shows --fish, and dance (" रङ्गः" मेदिनी, cf. रङ्गणश्येन for the Kestrel and व्योमलासिका, sky-dancer for the Skylark). In all these names the hovering or playful flight of the birds is regarded as a kind of dancing movement. The Pied Kingfisher hovers over water at a height of ten to twenty feet and on sighting a fish dives straight for it. Its other names are काचाक्ष (brown-eyed; "कृष्णपीतस्तु काच:"- ) and f (Hindi far, spotted like a sea-shell), and its way of fishing is well described by the कल्पद्रु कोश :- "काचाक्षः कर्पादक: आकाशे सुचिरं भ्रान्त्वा जले पतति लोष्टवत्" No other Kingfisher dives fish in this style. It is also named a (suspended high up like a parasol) from its hovering habit. is also an epithet for a , i.e., Osprey or Fishing Eagles which are known as and , in Hindi (Arts. 50 & 52-C). All blue Kingfishers, some of which are considered in the following paragraphs are मत्स्यरंक. 3. The Common Indian Kingfisher (7"), "one of the loveliest bird- sights," and not much bigger than a sparrow, is a little beauty, a gem amongst Kingfishers, flashing like blue jewels across the gloomy water. It is described in the Natural History of the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, Ornithology, Vol. X as follows: The Common Kingfisher "one of the most gaily tinted birds and when darting down some wooded
