Another of the birds of Hindustān is the shārak, which abounds in the Lamghānāt, and everywhere lower down, over the whole of Hindustān. The shārak is of different species. One is that which is found in great numbers in the Lamghānāt. Its head is black, its wings white*; its size rather larger than the chughur,* and slenderer. It learns to speak. There is another sort, which they call pindāweli. They bring it from Bengal. It is all black. It is much larger than the other shārak. Its bill and foot are yellow. In its two ears are two yellow leathers, which hang down, and look very ugly. They call it the meina.* It learns to speak, and speaks well and fluently. There is another kind of shārak a little slenderer than this last.* It is red round the eye. This kind does not talk. When I threw a bridge over the Ganges, and crossed it, driving the enemy before me, I saw in Lucknow, Oudh, and these countries, a species of shārak, which had a white breast, and a piebald head, with a black back.* I had never seen it before. This species probably does not learn to speak at all.
Lūjeh.Another is the lūjeh.* This fowl they also call the būkalemūn.* From the head to the tail, it has five or six different colours. Its neck has a bright glancing* tinge like the pigeon’s. In size, it is equal to the kabk i durri. It may be regarded as the kabk i durri* of Hindustān; as the kabk i durri inhabits the summits of the mountains, this also inhabits the tops of the mountains. They are met with in the country of Kābul and the hill-country of Nijrau,* and from thence downward, wherever there are hills; but they are not found any higher up. A remarkable circumstance is told of them. It is said, that in winter they come down to the skirts of the hills, and that if in their flight one of them happens to pass over a vineyard, it can no longer fly, and is taken. God knows the truth! Its flesh is very savoury.
Dūrraj (orAnother bird is the dūrraj (or partridge).* It is not peculiar to Hindustān. It is found everywhere in the countries of the garmsil. But, as certain species of it are found only in Hindustān, I have included it in this descriptive enumeration. The partridge may be equal to the kabk i durri* * in size. The colour of its back is like that of the female of the murgh-e-dashti (or jungle fowl).* Its neck and breast are black, with bright white spots. On both sides of both its eyes is a line of red. It has a cry like Shīr dārem, shakrek.* From its cry it gets its name. It pronounces shīr short, dārem shakrek it pronounces distinctly. The partridges of Asterābād are said to cry Bāt mīni, tūti lār.* The cry of the partridges of Arabia and the neighbouring countries is, Bil shuker tadūm al niam.* The colour of the hen bird resembles that of the young karkāwel (or pheasant). They are found below Nijrau. There is another fowl of the partridge kind, which they call kanjel.* It is about the size of the partridge. Its cry is very like that of a kabk, but shriller. There is little difference in colour between the male and female. It is found in the country of Pershāwer, Hashnaghar, and in the countries lower down, but in no district higher up.
Pūlpeikar.Another bird is the pūlpeikar.* Its size is equal to that of the kabk i durri. Its figure resembles the dung-hill cock, and in colour it is like the hen. From its forehead down to its breast it is of a beautiful scarlet colour. The pūlpeikar inhabits the hill-country of Hindustān.
Murgh-e-The murgh-e-sahrā* (fowl of the wild) is another. The difference between it and the barn-door fowl is, that the fowl of the wild flies like the karkāwel (or pheasant); it is not of every* colour like the barn-door fowl. It is found in the hill-country of Bajour, and the hill-country lower down. It is not met with above Bajour.
Chelsi.Another is the chelsi, which is like* the pūlpeikar, but the pūlpeikar has finer colours. It inhabits the hill-country of Bajour.
Shām.Another is the shām.* It may be about the size of the common cock, and is of various colours. It also is found in the hill-country of Bajour.
Budīneh,Another is the budīneh (or quail), which is not peculiar to Hindustān, but there are four or five species of it peculiar to that country. There is one species that visits our countries.* It is larger and more spreading than the common budīneh. There is another species, which is less than the budīnehs that visit us.* Its wings and tail are reddish. This budīneh goes in flights like the chīr.* There is still another species, which is smaller than the budīnehs that visit our country. They are generally black on the throat and breast.* There is another species which seldom visits Kābul. It is small, somewhat larger than the kārcheh; in Kābul they call it kūrātū.*
KharchālAnother is the kharchāl (or bustard), which may be about the size of the tughdāk, and is in reality the tughdāk* of Hindustān. Its flesh is very savoury. The flesh of the leg of some fowls, and of the breast of others, is excellent; the flesh of every part of the kharchāl is delicious.
Charz (orAnother is the charz* (or floriken). Its size is somewhat less than the tughderi.* The back of the male is like that of the tughderi; its breast is black. The female is all of a single colour. The flesh of the charz is very delicate. As the kharchāl resembles the tughdāk, the charz resembles the tughderi.
Bāghri-Another is the bāghri-kara* (or rock-pigeon) of Hindustān, which is less than the bāghri-kara of the west,* and slenderer; its cry, too, is sharper.
Water- There are other fowls, that frequent the water and the
banks of rivers. One of these is the dīng*
(or adjutant),
Dīng (or
adjutant).
which is a large bird. Each of its wings is the length of a
man;*
on its head and neck there is no hair;*
something
like a bag hangs from its neck; its back is black, its breast
white; it frequently*
visits Kābul. One year they caught
and brought me a dīng, which became very tame. The
flesh which they threw it, it never failed to catch in its beak,
and swallowed without ceremony. On one occasion, it
swallowed a shoe well shod with iron; on another occasion,
it swallowed a good-sized fowl right down, with its wings
and feathers.
Another is the sāras.* The Tūrks who are in Hindustān call it tīweh-tūrneh.* It is a little less than the dīng. The neck of the dīng is longer than that of the sāras.* Its head is red. They keep it about their houses, and it becomes very tame.
Minkisā.