XUl 



Indians.'* This statement is not wholly 

 correct, because the talking propensity of 

 the birds was discovered in captivity, and 

 there was no sentiment among the people 

 against the practice of caging them. The 

 keeping of birds in aviaries, instead of in 

 small cages, is noticed in the Mrichchha- 

 hatika^ a Sanskrit drama of about the 

 4th century A.D. The caging of talking 

 birds for the adornment of houses and for 

 pleasure was widely practised in ancient 

 India, but evidences are meagre as to the 

 caging of singing birds for the same pur- 

 poses. Bigger birds like Saruses (Cranes), 

 Peafowl, Raj-hans (Flamingoes) etc., were 

 also kept at large in lawns and gardens 

 in ancient India to heighten their beauty. 

 Bird-fights were liked by the Hindu 

 kings, while hawking was widely followed 

 as a pastime. There is a Sanskrit work 

 called Syainiha Sastra by one of the Hindu 

 princes, which gives a systematic study 

 of the subject, recording and describing 

 the habits and qualities of several species 



