FOOTNOTES:
[121] ʿUqāb Ar., or qara-qush T. The latter word properly means “black bird of prey,” and is a term specially applied to the Golden Eagle.
[122] Sār, vide note [133], page 32.
[123] ʿUqāb-i māh-dum, “moon-tailed eagle.” Can this be Pallas’s sea eagle? The author does not mention that it is found in the vicinity of water.
[124] Barra; properly a lamb. The author elsewhere uses this word for the fawn of the “ravine-deer.”
[125] ʿUqāb-i ā,īna-lī. Ā,īna means “mirror.”
[126] ʿUqāb-i qurbāqa-chī; būq-k͟hura. Qurbāqa and bāqa are both Turki names for a frog. Būq T. is “ordure,” and figuratively anything filthy. The Spotted Eagle (Aquila nævia) feeds largely on frogs.
[127] The length of the female goshawk is said to be 22 to 26 inches: of the male 18 to 21 inches. There is in Persia a species of small eagle or hawk-eagle that always hunts in pairs and that is known to Persians by the name of Du-Barādarān or “The Two Brothers.” The Dūbarār of the author is perhaps a corruption of Du-Barādarān. In the Ḥāyatu ’l-Ḥaywān, the Arab name of the latter is said to be Zumaj, a word that occurs in old Arabic and Persian MSS. on falconry.
[128] Parhā-yi rān-ash tā pācha rīk͟hta. Possibly by this expression the author means that the whole of the tarsus is feathered. “‘Pendant Feathers,’ those behind the thighs of a hawk.”—Harting.
[129] ʿArabistān or K͟huzistān: its capital Shuster is about 130 miles north of the head of the Persian Gulf.
[130] Parah malā (?); possibly for Parlā T., which is said to be the name of a “black water-bird with a white beak.” The coot?
[131] Ḥaqar: variously spelt in old Persian MSS. on falconry awqār, aqār and ʿuqār; latter correct.
[132] Hamadān: about 100 miles North-East of Kirmānshāh.
[133] Sār (for sā?): Apparently two species of large buzzard are so-called by the author. This word must not be confused with sār the common Persian word for starling. In Dr. Scully’s list of the Turkish names of birds, sā is said to be the name applied to Buzzards, Harriers, and Kites.
CHAPTER XIII
KITES AND HARRIERS
Kites [and Harriers].—There are three common species of kites.[134] In the first, the two centre tail-feathers, called by the Arabs ʿamūd,[135] and by Persian and Turkish[136] falconers qāpāq,[137] are shorter than the rest, the outer feathers being longer. The general colouring of the plumage is a dirty brown with dark coloured drops on the breast. The feet are small and the tarsi[138] short.
2nd Species [Marsh Harrier?].—The second species haunts marshes and reedy pools in quest of frogs and rats. In this species the tarsus is long[139] and unfeathered, and the feet are small, ill-looking, and black. There is also a certain amount of white on the head.
3rd Species.—In the third species the general colouring of the plumage—with the exception of the head, which is reddish—is very dark. In habits it resembles the two preceding.
All three species are cowardly and mean-spirited. A good T̤arlān, trained to large quarry, will generally take them.[140]
Should the fork-tailed kite[141] see a sparrow-hawk or merlin with a bird in its feet, it will fuss round it, doing its utmost to steal it from the lucky possessor. If unsuccessful, it returns to its quest of mice and garbage.
These above-described species are related to the eagles. Under this head, too, I have even included the Carrion Vulture[142] and the Scavenger Vulture.[143]