Some storks and eagles eat carrion; herons and ospreys do not: kankas and kuraras (and badas) in the Mahabharata. (animal terminology in ancient epic Indian poem)

Birds occupy some interesting places in the imagination of many Sanskrit poets, perhaps because brahminic culture accorded sabda such a privileged place in its experience of the world.(1) The conversations and recitations of gatherings of brahmins are happily compared to the honking of geese.(2) And when the Pandavas, one after the other, try to persuade Yudhisthira to give up his intention to renounce the Bharata kingship in the wake of the great war, Draupadi describes them to Yudhisthira as "parched like Catakas ... cuckooing monotonously" while Yudhisthira ignores their…