meant in the Cankam period to look for good omens, just as the Latin aves spicere, came to mean everything auspicious. The Tamils, like the Romans and Greeks, considered birds which gave omens by their flight (alites) and birds which gave omens by their cries (oscines). The omen was good or bad according to whether the bird one met or heard was good or bad. Thus the sound of the crow was considered a good omen, while the sound of the owl was a bad omen. If at a certain time a new bird came in, or a bird flew away it was considered a bad omen.³⁷

The crow from time immemorial has been known to be a bird of happy omen. When it caws rather noticeably near a dwelling, the sound is even now understood to announce a coming guest. Two references to this auspicious herald are of interest. A lover, on his return from foreign strands, thanks the playmate and companion of his lady love for having consoled her during his absence. The playmate replies that it was not she but the crow that restored her wasting form by announcing his impending return.³⁸

In the other poem, a mother who has had the misfortune of knowing that her daughter had eloped with a young man, entreats the crow in her anxiety to announce the return of the prodigals.

These omens, however, were not always rigorously observed. The bravery of kings is sometimes extolled by saying that they set out to battle in spite of adverse omens, and secured

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