Note 143 — Chapter IV · ANIMAL-WORSHIP.

So of the woodpecker, which is said to have been a Râja in a former birth, and still to retain his royal crest. In Italian tradition the woodpecker (Picus Martis) is a digger in forests, where he lives alone and digs and hews, and knows all hidden secrets and treasures.143 In India the Titihrî, or sandpiper, is said to sleep with his legs in the air and thus supports the firmament.