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| BIRDS Finches Fisher, Ushindi: A tufted waterbird of the rainforests near Schendi. It has long white feathers and long legs. Fleer: The fleer is a large, hook billed bird that hunts at night. There are two types, the prairie fleer and the long-billed fleer. The prairie fleer lives in the Barrens and is a yellow bird with long wings and a sharp bill. It is both gregarious and voracious. It is sometimes called the maize or corn bird from the belief that it is usually the first bird to find food. The long-billed fleer live in the rainforests. Fruit tindel: This is a brightly plumaged bird that inhabits the rainforests near Schendi. Gants: There are a few different types of these birds. The marsh gant is a small, horned, web-footed aquatic fowl. It is broad-billed and broad-winged. Its call is a kind of piping whistle. Rence growers tame them and also eat them. The jungle gant is a bird of the rainforests related to the marsh gant. The migratory arctic gant nests in the Hrimgar mountains in steep, rocky outcroppings called bird cliffs. Their eggs may be frozen and eaten like apples. Gims: This bird comes in several varieties. The horned gim is a small owl-like bird, about four ounces in weight, that inhabits the forests of northern Gor. It migrates from the Plains of Turia late in the spring. The lang gim is an insectivorous bird that lives in the rainforests. The yellow gim also resides in the rainforests. Most gims make a throaty warbling. Hook-billed gort: This is a carnivorous hunting bird of the rainforests. It preys largely on rodents like ground urts. Gulls: Vosk gulls and Schendi gulls are two types of this bird. Vosk gulls migrate north from the southern hemisphere in the spring time when the ice breaks in the Vosk River. Schendi gulls nest on land at night. Herlit: This is the Gorean eagle. It is also called Sun-Striker or Out-of-the-Sun-it-Strikes, from its habit of striking with the sun above and behind it. It lives in the Barrens. It has a wingspan of six to eight feet and stands about four feet high. It is carnivorous. It has yellow feathers tipped with black. It has fifteen tail feathers which are the mostly highed prized of its feathers. They they are fourteen to fifteen inches long and used by the Red Savages to mark coups. The wing, or pinion, feathers are used for ceremonial and religious purposes. The breath feathers, light and delicate, from the base of the bird's tail, are used with the tail feathers in the fashioning of bonnets and complex headdresses. Feathers from the right side of the tail are used in the right side of the headdress and the left side used in the left side. To make a headdress requires several birds. Two to five Herlits may be traded for a kaiila. Hermit bird: This is a yellow-breasted bird similar to a woodpecker. It hunts for larvae in tur trees. Hurlit, Forest: A bird that migrates from the Plains of Turia late in the spring. Jard: This is a small, yellow-winged scavenger bird of the rainforests. There is a variety in the north that flies in large flocks and can strip a carcass quickly. Kites: A type of bird with a shrill call. One variety is the Meadow Kite that migrates from the Plains of Turia early in the spring. Lit: There are several varieties of this bird including the common lit, crested lit, and the needle-tailed lit. They are all found in the rainforests. The crested lit is brightly plumaged with red and yellow feathers. Mindar: This bird is similar to a hummingbird. It is a short winged, yellow and red bird of the rainforests. It uses its sharp bill to dig at the bark of flower trees for larvae and insects. Its wings have adapted for short, rapid flights. Parrot Tanager: This is a brightly plumaged bird in the rainforests near Schendi. Tarns: These are the giant riding birds of Gor, also called the Brothers of the Wind. They resemble a hawk but with a crest like a jay. They are surprisingly light for their size due to the hollowness of their bones. A tarn is an extremely powerful bird. It can fly from the ground with a spring and sudden wing flurry. Its tongue is thin, sharp and as long as a man's arm. It has a curved beak, slit with narrow nostrils. They are not migratory birds and cannot live in the cold northern regions. Tarns are diurnal and carnivorous. They eat only what they catch themselves, usually antelopes and wild bull. If enough food is available, they will eat half their weight. But by Renegades of Gor, tarns are being trained to eat prepared meat. They are seldom more than half-tamed and it is not unknown for a tarn to attack its own rider. Their plumage varies and they are bred for color. The most common color is greenish-brown. Black tarns used for night raids, white for winter raids, and multi-colored for proud warriors who care not for camouflage. It is extremely difficult to fly a tarn from the sight of land. The jungle tarn is a rare bird, gloriously plumaged, from the tropical reaches of the Cartius. Tarns often are trained for specific functions. Draft tarn are used for transporting cargo while Saddle tarns are used for transport of people. War tarns are used by Tarnsmen in battle. Racing Tarns are made for entertainment like Earth horse racing. Racing tarns are different in size, strength, build, and tendencies from most other tarns. They are extremely light so that two men could lift one. Its wings are broader and shorter permitting a swifter take off and a capacity for extremely abrupt turns and shifts in flight. They lack the stamina of most other tarns and cannot carry heavy weight. Tibit: This is a small, thin-legged bird that lives on tiny mollusks on the shores of Thassa. Ul: This is a silent, giant pterodactyl-like creature that is native to the swamps of the Vosk delta. It is a predatory winged tharlarion. It has a wing span of twenty-five to thirty Gorean feet. It has a small head with long, narrow toothed jaws with a narrow extension of bone and skin in the back. Its long snake-like tail ends in a spadelike structure. It has a clawed hand with a very long fourth digit. There are several smaller varieties, some as small as a jard. The larger ones are isolated and territorial. They will not attack a tarn as a tarn could easily tear them to pieces. Umbrella bird: This bird lives in the rainforest. |