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that should not be eaten’ or ‘birds that tell the time’. Note that such categories do
infrequently occur in the classifi cation of plants and fungi, as all inedible mush-
rooms are called uccaṇabe , while plants with edible greens are often referred to as
soppu. In the following sections, we outline some well-known pieces of Solega
folklore related to birds, which had such a great bearing on whether or not a
particular bird was recognised in our picture task. These stories and cultural beliefs
were documented in an opportunistic manner, and at present we lack the data to
determine whether any signifi cant variation (comparable to the variation in nomen-
clature discussed above) exists in this domain of folklore. However, anecdotal evi-
dence—whenever the same story was recorded from two or more individuals—sug-
gests that apart from the usual inter-individual stylistic variation that can be expected
of the storytelling speech genre, there is a general consensus regarding the content
and intent of the stories.
Table 4.7 Bird calls that have been lexicalised in Solega
Bird call Species
aṭṭ-aṭṭu kere suṭṭ-suṭṭu kere Red Spurfowl
chu chucca Oriental Scops Owl
jirr-jirr-jirri Quail
ka:kanakoṭe* Indian Scimitar Babbler
karra kurra tikada meṇa ki:ḷu Large-billed Crow
kẽ kẽ gakku gakku
katale karu kaṭṭuJunglefowlsankara sara tappu Rooster
ke:ta sattu makka keṭṭu Indian Cuckoo
ke:tike ku:sa:ta Eurasian Collared Dove
kisi kisi Blue-winged Parakeet
kiṭri:/piṭri:/siṭri: Flameback woodpeckers
koṭṭipiḍiyã*
also koḍtini - koḍuRed-whiskered Bulbulkuĩ kuĩ Rufous Woodpecker
kuruḷi kuruḷi* Quail
kurubigo:ḍi* Rufous Treepie
kuṭru kuṭru* Barbets
koho-koho
ḍak-ḍakko:kunji (unidentifi ed)giji giji Jungle Babbler
guḍuga:ḍe* Type of quail/ francolin?
ma:vã kena/pa:pira* Common Hawk-cuckoo
pikku pikku* Wagtails
sirpuru sirpuru Jungle Babbler
nanna ku:so* Puff-throated Babbler
soĩ soĩ/si:ḷ Parrots, Whistling ThrushAsterisks indicate bird calls that also provide names for those birds
4 Solega Ethno-ornithology