43 The Hoopoes are closely allied to the Hornbills both in structure and nesting habits. They feed on the ground which they probe with their long, pointed bills for insects, grubs, and caterpillars. They nest in holes and the female sits very closely and seems never to leave the hole until the young are well grown and the male feeds her during all this period. The voice of the male is a double or treble "hoop" or "pooh" after which the bird has been named in many languages, e.g. gage in Persian and Hindi. The Sanskrit names for this beautiful bird are derived from (i) its voice. and love of progeny-gafa ('pooh-pooh', ga! gar!; v.1. frager) and (ii) its habit of "quartering the ground methodically" and probing it for food-कठाकु ("कठाकु: खदशिल्पिनो:"—–वैजयन्ती). Alternative forms of this last name are कुठाकु (M. Williams ) and कठारु ( "दरिख: पक्षी च" - उणादिवृत्ति, II, श्वेतवनवासिन्), names which correspond to सुतार in Marathi and खुट बढ़ई (a carpenter 'pegging' the ground, from it a peg, for a lay-out, as it were; cf. , a mallet or hammer) in Hindi. These names are the same as farest, an artisan who, like the village carpenter, frequently combines the func- tions of a smith and a house-builder. The bird's habit of regularly quar- tering the ground and stopping every now and then to probe it for food very naturally invited the comparison with a village carpenter. Yet another name for it in Hindi ise or stone-breaker, an adaptation from ge for a hammer related to art, an axe. It is known as get in Sind which is the same as कठाकु. The Pali form of कुठाकु or कठाकु (कुष्यते छियते भूमि ? ) is कुकुट्ठक or year in and the first of these, e points to the correct Sanskrit spelling of कु-कुट्टक (कुं भूमि कुट्टति छेदयति) 'one who pierces or breaks the ground with his bill' which agrees with the habit of the Hoopoe who pokes his bill deep into the ground for worms and insects. Moreover, with the folded crest and the long bill, the bird's head looks also like a toy pick-axe (E. H. Aitken). 1. HOOPOES for the gafar again, is another happy name for the bird (cf. f Hornbill). Fletcher and Inglis testify to the extraordinary love of the female for her eggs: "On one occasion, to inspect the nest, the hen 547 Verses 2097 and 2104. Hoopoes bird had to be pulled out of the hole and in doing so some of her tail feathers came out, but even this rather severe handling did not make her quit the place". The male feeds the female during incubation to ensure proper hatching out of the young. No wonder the ancients loved and remembered these devoted birds in their epics: "पुवप्रियोऽसौ शकुनिः पुत्र पुत्रेति भाषते । मधुरां करुणां वाचं पुरेव जननी मम।।" रामायण, 2 "पुत्र पुवेति वाशन्ते यत्र पुत्रप्रिया खगाः । यथा शिवप्रियाः शैवाः नित्यं शिव शिवेति च ।" “चकोरैरसितापाङगैस्तथा पुत्त्रप्रियैरपि ।” 1. Birds of an Indian Garden. 2. (Interpolated Canto) 2.96.12. 3. कौमारिका खण्ड 3.62. 4. 3.108,8. Also ब्रह्मपुराम 41.46. मार्क० पुराण 6.19. मत्स्यपुराण 118.52. स्कन्दपुराण 163 महाभारत'
