~Air & Winged Animals of Gor~
* Finch: “In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim.” Explorers of Gor
“In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, Warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
* Fisher:
-Tufted Fisher: “Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders. Also in the ground zone are varieties of snake, such as the ost and hith, and numerous species of insects. ” Explorers of Gor
-Ushindi Fisher: “His head was surmounted by an elaborate headdress, formed largely from the long, white, curling feathers of the Ushindi fisher, a long-legged, wading bird.” Explorers of Gor
* Fleer: “My master looked upward, at the moons. From through the trees, on the other side of the camp, came what I took to be the sound of a bird, the hook-billed, night-crying fleer, which preys on nocturnal forest urts. The cry was repeated three times.” Slave Girl of Gor
“A bird that inhabits the emergent level of the rainforests of Schendi. In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits.” Explorers of Gor
-Prairie Fleer: “The fleer is a large, yellow, long-billed, gregarious, voracious bird of the Barrens. It is sometimes also called the Cord Bird or the Maize Bird.” Savages of Gor
* Fruit Tindel: “In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
* Gant:
-Artic Gant: “I stepped aside to let a young girl pass, who carried two baskets of eggs, those of the migratory arctic gant. They nest in the mountaim of the Hrimgar and in steep, rocky outcroppings, called bird cliffs, found here and there jutting out of the tundra. The bird cliffs doubtless bear some geological relation to the Hrimgar chains. When such eggs are frozen they are eaten like apples.” Beasts of Gor
-Jungle Gant: “Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders.” Explorer of Gor
-Marsh Gant: “I heard a bird some forty or fifty yards to my right; it sounded like a marsh gant, a small, horned, web-footed aquatic fowl, broad-billed and broad-winged. Marsh girls, the daughters of rence growers, sometimes hunt them with throwing sticks.” Raiders of Gor
“I heard another bird, another marsh gant it seemed, some fifty yards away, but this time to my left.” Raiders of Gor
“The calls of marsh gants, a kind of piping whistle, seemed more frequent now, and somewhat closer.” Raiders of Gor
“The cries of the marsh gants were about us now. I saw that her hunting had been successful. There were four of the birds tied in the stern of her craft.” Raiders of Gor
“I heard some domestic marsh gants making their piping call. They wandered freely on the island, leaving it to feed, then returning later. Wild marsh gants, captured, even as young as gantlings, cannot be domesticated; on the other hand, eggs, at the hatching point, gathered from floating gant nests, are sometimes brought to the island; the hatchlings, interestingly, if not permitted to see an adult gant for the first week of their life, then adopt the rence island as their home, and show no fear of human beings; they will come and go in the wild as they please, feeding and flying, but will always, and frequently, return to the rence island, their hatching place; if the rence island, however, should be destroyed, they revert entirely to the wild; in the domesticated state, it will invariably permit themselves to be picked up and handled.” Raiders of Gor
“Two wild gants alighted on the island, away from the men and their prisoners, and began pecking about the ruins of one of the rence huts, probably after seeds or bits of rence cake.” Raiders of Gor
“A flock of marsh gants, wild, took flight, circled, and then, seeing I meant them no harm, returned to the island, though to its farther shore.” Raiders of Gor
* Gim:
-Horned Gim: “It was a small bird, about the size of a sparrow, but it looked a bit like a tiny owl, with tufts over its eyes. It was purplish. It looked at me quizzically. It was perched on some split piping.” Captive of Gor
“The first southern migrations of meadow kites,” he said, “Have already taken place. The migrations of the forest hurlit and the horned gim do not take place until later in the spring. This is the time that the Vosk gulls fly.” Nomads of Gor
“…somewhere, the call of a tiny horned gim, the tiny purplish owl.” Captive of Gor
“…a horned gim, a small, owllike bird, some four ounces in weight, common in the northern latitudes…” Slave Girl of Gor
-Lang Gim: “In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim.” Explorers of Gor
-Yellow: “In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
* Grub Borer: Grub borer “In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim.” Explorers of Gor
* Gull: “I heard the cry of two gulls overhead.” Captive of Gor
-Black Tipped Coasting Gull: “From among the weapons at the foot of the couch, from one of the cylindrical quivers, still of the sort carried in Torvaldsland, I drew forth a long, dark arrow. It was more than a yard long. Its shaft was almost an inch thick with iron, barbed. Its feathers were five inches long, set in the shaft on three sides, feathers of the black-tipped coasting gull, a broad-winged bird, with black tips on its wings and tail feathers, similar to the Vosk gull.” Marauders of Gor
-Schendi Gull: “Those are Schendi gulls,” said Ulafi, pointing to birds which circled the mainmast. “They nest on land at night.” Explorers of Gor
-Vosk Gull: “Thurnock, though in Port Kar, had found a piece of Ka-la-na stock, and had been carving a great bow, the long bow. I knew he had also found some bits of bosk horn, and some leather, and some hemp and silk. In two or three days, I expected, he, too, would have a bow. Piles he had already commissioned from a smith; and Thura, on his command, this afternoon, with a bit of stick, had struck down a Vosk gull, that the shafts he fashioned, whether from Ka-la-na or tem-wood, would be well fletched.” Raiders of Gor
“Those are Vosk gulls,” said Kamchak, “In the spring, when the ice breaks in the Vosk, they fly north.” Nomads of Gor
* Herlit: “It was peeled Ka-la-na wood and, from its top, there dangled two long, narrow, yellow, black-tipped feathers, from the tail of the taloned Herlit, a large, broad-winged, carnivorous bird, sometimes in Gorean called the Sun Striker, or, more literally, though in clumsier English, Out-of-the-sun-it-strikes, presumably from its habit of making its descent and strike on prey, like the tarn, with the sun above and behind it.” Savages of Gor
“Light filtered into the pit. Similar pits, though much smaller, are used for the capture of the taloned Herlit. In the case of the Herlit it is dragged bodily into the pit. There it may be dealt with in various ways. It may be strangled; it may be crushed beneath the knees, with the hunter’s weight; or it may be put on its belly, its back to be broken by a swift blow of the foot. In the latter two fashions, the wings are put to the side. This avoids damage to the feathers. It is not easy to kill such a bird with the bare hands, but that is the prescribed methodology. It is regarded as bad form, if not bad medicine, to use a weapon for such a purpose. An adult Herlit is often four feet in height and has a wingspan of some seven to eight feet. The hunter must beware of being blinded or having an artery slashed in the struggle. The fifteen tail feathers are perhaps most highly prized. They are some fourteen to fifteen inches in height, and yellow with black tips. They are particularly significant in the marking of coups. The wing, or pinion, feathers, are used for various 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 or complex headdresses. They, like the wing feathers, may also be used for a variety of ceremonial or religious purposes. The slightest breeze causes them to move, causing the headdress to seem almost alive. It is probably from this feature that they are called “breath feathers.” Each feather, of course, and its arrangement, in such a headdress, can have its individual meaning. Feathers from the right wing or right side of the tail, for example, are used on the right side of the headdress, and feathers from the left wing or left side of the tail are used on the left side of the headdress. In the regalia of the red savages there is little that is meaningless or arbitrary. To make a headdress often requires several birds. To give you an idea of the value of Herlits, in some places two may be exchanged for a kaiila; in other places, it takes three to five to purchase a kaiila.” Blood Brothers of Gor
* Hermit: “Somewhere, far off, but carrying through the forest, was the rapid, staccato slap of the sharp beak of the yellow-breasted hermit bird, pounding into the reddish bark of the tur tree, hunting for larvae.” Hunters of Gor
* Hook-Billed Gort: “In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim.” Explorers of Gor
* Hurlit: “The first southern migrations of meadow kites,” he said, “have already taken place. The migrations of the forest hurlit and the horned gim do not take place until later in the spring. This is the time that the Vosk gulls fly.” Nomads of Gor
* Jard: “Within the next Ahn we passed more than sixty bodies, dangling at the side of the river. None was that of Shaba. About some of these bodies there circled scavenging birds. On the shoulders of some perched small, yellow-winged jards.” Explorers of Gor
“The jard is a small scavenger. It flies in large flocks. A flock, like flies, can strip the meat from a tabuk in minutes.” Beasts of Gor
“Fluttering jards, covering many of the carcasses like gigantic flies, stirred, swarming upward as Imnak passed them, and then returned to their feasting.” Beasts of Gor
“The jard is a small scavenging bird. It commonly moves in flocks.” Magicians of Gor
* Kite: “Overhead a wild Gorean kite, shrilling, beat its lonely way from this place, …” Nomads of Gor
“The first southern migrations of meadow kites,” he said, “Have already taken place. The migrations of the forest hurlit and the horned gim do not take place until later in the spring. This is the time that the Vosk gulls fly.” Nomads of Gor
* Lit
-Crested Lit: “In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
-Needle-Tailed Lit: “In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
* Mindar: “Kisu pointed overhead. “See the mindar,” he said. We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged, short-winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and red. “That is a forest bird,” said Kisu. The mindar is adapted for short, rapid flights, almost spurts, its wings beating in sudden flurries, hurrying it from branch to branch, for camouflage in flower trees, and for drilling the bark of such trees for larvae and grubs.” Explorers of Gor
“In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
* Parrot: “In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits.” Explorers of Gor
“On the other hand, should a bird, such as a mindar or parrot…” Explorers of Gor
“In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits.” Explorers of Gor
* Tanager: “In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
* Tarn: “Then I was cowering, awe-stricken, in a great winged shadow, and an immense tarn, his talons extended like gigantic steel hooks, his wings sputtering fiercely in the air, hung above me, motionless except for the beating of his wings; The tarn dropped to the roof of the cylinder and regarded us with his bright black eyes; these birds are sometimes spoken of as Brothers of the wind.” Tarnsman of Gor
“The plumage of tarns is various, and they are bred for their colors as well as their strength and intelligence. Black tarns are used for night raids, white tarns in winter campaigns, and multi-colored, resplendent tarns are bred for warriors who wish to ride proudly, regardless of the lack of camouflage. The most common tarn, however, is the greenish brown. Disregarding the disproportion in size, the Earth bird, which the tarn most closely resembles is the hawk, with the exception that it has a crest somewhat of the nature of a jay’s.” Tarnsman of Gor
-Daft Tarn: “Some tarns are bred primarily for strength and are used in transporting wares by carrying basket. Usually these birds fly more slowly and are less vicious than the war tarns or racing tams.” Assassin of Gor
“It is true that if she, with other girls, were shipped by wagon to Ar, this schedule would not be met; but we knew that the House of Clark, in the case of select merchandise, under which category Elizabeth surely fell, transported slaves by tarn caravan to the markets of Ar, usually binding them in groups of six in slave baskets, sometimes as many as a hundred tarns, with escort, flying at once.” Assassin of Gor
-Jungle Tarn: “To the crowd’s astonishment, but not to mine, he wheeled his tarn, a rare, gloriously plumaged jungle tarn from the tropical reaches of the Cartius, to block the first of the right center rings. The bird, beautiful, fierce, talons lifted, wings beating, hanging almost motionless before the ring, faced us.” Assassin of Gor
-Racing Tarn: “The racing tarn, interestingly, is an extremely light bird; two men can lift one; even its beak is narrower and lighter than the beak of a common tarn or war tarn; its wings are commonly broader and shorter than those of other tarns, permitting a swifter take off and providing a capacity for extremely abrupt turns and shifts in flight; they cannot carry a great deal of weight and the riders, as might be expected, are small men, usually of low caste, pugnacious and aggressive.” Assassin of Gor
* Tibit: “I heard the cry of sea birds, broad-winged gulls and the small, stick-legged tibits, pecking in the sand for tiny mollusks.” Hunters of Gor
* Tumit: “I saw one of the tumits, a large, flightless bird whose hooked beak, as long as my forearm, attested only too clearly to its gustatory habits; I lifted my shield and grasped the long spear, but it did not turn in my direction; it passed, unaware.” Nomads of Gor
“…the tumit, a huge, flightless carnivorous bird of the plains….” Nomads of Gor
“I gathered that the best season for hunting tumits, the large, flightless carnivorous birds of the southern plains, was at hand,…” Nomads of Gor
* Umbrella Bird: “In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird.” Explorers of Gor
* Vart: “The Vart is a small, sharp-toothed winged mammal, carnivorous, which commonly flies in flocks.” Explorers of Gor
“There were several other creatures in the cases but I am not sure of their classification. I could, however, recognize a row of brown varts, clinging upside down like large matted fists of teeth and fur and leather on the heavy, bare, scarred branch in their case. I saw bones, perhaps human bones, in the bottom of their case.” Priest-Kings of Gor
“Perhaps I most dreaded those nights filled with the shrieks of the vart pack, a blind, batlike swarm of flying rodents, each the size of a small dog. They could strip a carcass in a matter of minutes, each carrying back some fluttering ribbon of flesh to the recesses of whatever dark cave the swarm had chosen for its home. Moreover, some vart packs were rabid.” Outlaw of Gor
“I had wanted to see both Tyros and Cos. Both lie some four hundred pasangs west of Port Kar, Tyros to the south of Cos, separated by some hundred pasangs from her. Tyros is a rugged island, with mountains. She is famed for her vart caves, and indeed, on the island, trained varts, batlike creatures, some the size of small dogs, are used as weapons.” Raiders of Gor
-Jungle Vart: “In the lower branches of the ‘ground zone’ may be found, also, small animals, such as tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels, four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling, solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous to man.” Explorers of Gor
* Veminium Bird: “Perhaps in one of these times, due to no fault of Mistress he was charmed by her voice, as by the songs of the veminium bird.” Magicians of Gor
* Vulo:” She had been carrying a wicker basket containing vulos, domesticated pigeons raised for eggs and meat.” Nomads of Gor
“I passed fields that were burning, and burning huts of peasants, the smoking shells of Sa-Tarna granaries, the shattered, slatted coops for vulos…” Nomads of Gor
“It is the spiced brain of the Turian vulo,” Saphrar was explaining.” Nomads of Gor
“I shot the spiced vulo brain into my mouth on the tip of a golden eating prong, a utensil, as far as I knew, unique to Turia.” Nomads of Gor
“… carried a large wooden cage, made of sticks lashed together, which contained perhaps a dozen white vulos, domesticated pigeons.” Nomads of Gor
“Among the animals I saw many verrs; some domestic tarsks, their tusks sheathed; Spotted Dove cages of flapping vulos, some sleen, some kaiila, even some bosk…” Nomads of Gor
“Yesterday we had finished the food. Yet did we have water. Hassan saw five birds overhead in flight. “Fall to your hands and knees,” he said. “Put your bead down.” He did so, and I followed his example. To my surprise the five birds began to circle. I looked up. They were wild vulos, tawny and broad-winged. In a short time they alighted, several yards from us. They watched us, their heads turned to one side. Hassan began to kiss rhythmically at the back of his band, his head down, but moving so as to see the birds. The sound he made was not unlike that of an animal lapping water. There was a squawk as he seized one of the birds which, curious, ventured too near. The other vulos took flight. Hassan broke the bird’s neck between his fingers and began to pull out the feathers. We fed on meat.” Tribesmen of Gor
* Wader: “Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders.” Explorers of Gor
* Warbler: “In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.” Explorers of Gor
* Woodpecker: “In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird.” Explorers of Gor
* Zad: “I heard, a short time later, wings, the alighting of one or more large birds. Such birds, broad-winged, black and white, from afar, follow the marches to Klima; their beaks, yellowish, narrow, are long and slightly hooked at the end, useful for probing and tearing. The birds scattered, squawking, as a Kaiila sped past. The birds are called zads.” Tribesmen of Gor
“Within the next Ahn we passed more than sixty bodies, dangling at the side of the river. None was that of Shaba… One was attacked even by zads, clinging to it and tearing at it with their long, yellowish, slightly curved beaks. These were jungle zads. They are less to be feared than desert zads, I believe, being less aggressive. They do, however, share one ugly habit with the desert zad, that of tearing out the eyes of weakened victims. That serves as a practical guarantee that the victim, usually an animal, will die. Portions of flesh the zad will swallow and carry back to its nest, where it will disgorge the flesh into the beaks of its fledglings. The zad is, in its way, a dutiful parent.” Explorers of Gor
* Zadit: “Following such rains great clouds of sand flies appear wakened from dormancy. These feast on kaiila and men. Normally, flying insects are found only in the vicinity of the oases. Crawling insects of various sorts, and predator insects, however, are found in many areas, even far from water. The zadit is a small, tawny-feathered, sharp-billed bird. It feeds on insects. When sand files and other insects, emergent after rains, infest kaiila, they frequently alight on the animals, and remain on them for some hours, hunting insects. This relieves the kaiila of the insects but leaves it with numerous small wounds, which are unpleasant and irritating, where the bird has dug insects out of it’s hide. These tiny wounds, if they become infected, turn into sores; these sores are treated by the drovers with poultices of kaiila dung.” Tribesmen of Gor
Gorean Codex 