HINDU ZOOLOGICAL BELIEFS. 297 



Jatayus, the king of the Vultures, attacked the ogre Ravana 

 ■when he carried off Sita. The demon cut off a wing, but the 

 bird lived just long enough to narrate to Rama all that had 

 happened. 



At Tiru Kalikundram, the hill of the sacred Vultures, several 

 miles south of Madras, two well-known birds come daily to the 

 temple to be fed at eleven o'clock in the forenoon by the priests. 

 The temple is ancient, and for centuries past these birds 

 (Neophron) are popularly believed to be rishis who leave 

 Benares every morning, stay for lunch here, and then haste on 

 to Rameswaram, which they reach at nightfall. 



There are many Cuckoos in the plains, but the commonest 

 is the Koel (Eudynamis), the call of which resembles the Tamil 

 word " akka " (sister), and the belief is to the effect that a man 

 •once had two beautiful daughters, one of whom was accidentally 

 drowned in the sacred Cauvery, and the other changed to this 

 .bird, which, when the river is in flood, still calls for her sister. 



Mammals. — The white Bull is the steed of Shiva, the Buffalo 

 that of Yama, the god of death. The Cow, of course, is a very 

 sacred animal. It arose first from the milk-ocean and had a 

 woman's face. Every Friday the Cow is worshipped, its body 

 being dotted with red or yellow powder. Kamadhenu is the 

 sacred or wishing Cow, the Cow of plenty, and was won by the 

 sage Vasishta as a reward for his ascetic merit, but in reality it 

 'belonged to Indra. 



Six men once conspired against the rishi Gautama. At their 

 ■request Ganesa became an emaciated Cow, which angered the 

 sage so that he struck it with a blade of grass, and to his horror 

 killed the animal. Now, to slay a Brahmin or a Cow is the 

 greatest sin possible for a Hindu, and the sage was plunged in 

 remorse for his deed, but Shiva, knowing the artifice, purified 

 Jiim by pouring on him the waters of the Ganges from his ruddy 

 locks. 



The Horse, Uchaisrava, so called from the loudness of his 

 •neighings, arose from the churning of the milk-ocean. The 

 ■sun's chariot is drawn by seven Horses, the seven prismatic 

 colours, and it has only one wheel. Badaba is the Horse 

 believed to live at the bottom of the sea. He bears a light in 

 ■his forehead, which, at the end of the world, is to burn up every- 



Zool. 4th ser., vol. XX., August, 1916. aa 



