Research source

THE CUCKOO, THE HERON, THE HEATHCOCK, THE PARTRIDGE, THE NIGHTINGALE, THE SWALLOW, THE SPARROW, AND

Date of account: English edition published 1872
Source: Zoological Mythology; or, The Legends of Animals, Volume 2 (of 2)
Reference: Zoological Mythology; or, The Legends of Animals, Volume 2 (of 2) · selected passage 64
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

In this genealogy the ascending movement of the sun appears to be described to us, like the myth of the sun Vishnus, who, from a dwarf, becomes a giant

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

In this genealogy the ascending movement of the sun appears to be described to us, like the myth of the sun Vishnus, who, from a dwarf, becomes a giant. The vulture Gâtâyus knows everything that has happened in the past, and everything that will come to pass in the future, inasmuch as, like the Vedic sun, he is viçvavedas, all-seeing, omniscient, and has traversed the whole earth. In the _Râmâyanam_ we read of the last fierce battle of the aged vulture Gâtâyus with the terrible monster Râvanas, who carries off the beautiful Sîtâ during the absence of her husband Râmas. Gâtâyus, although old in years, rises into the air to prevent the carrying off of Sîtâ by Râvanas in a chariot drawn by asses; the vulture breaks with his strong claws the bow and arrow of Râvanas, strikes and kills the asses, splits the chariot in two, throws the charioteer down, forces Râvanas to leap to the ground, and wounds him in a thousand ways; but at last the king of the monsters succeeds with his sword in cutting off the wings, feet, and sides of the faithful bird, who expires in pain and grief, whilst the d

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

Lattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.

Investigate related details with Anomaly Graph’s account-based search, or read how matching and provenance work.