In another apparent deviation from Talmudic tradition, where the Talmud ("Hullin" 63a) names a biblical species of fowl (Leviticus 11:18) known as "raḥam" () and says that it is the colorful bee-eating bird called "sheraqraq" (Merops apiaster), Saadia in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch writes that "raḥam" is the carrion vulture (Neophron percnopterus), based on the phonetic similarity of its Arabic name with the Hebrew. The "sheraqraq" (same as the Arabic شقراق), is a bird that harbingers rain in the Levant (around October), for which reason the Talmud says: "When "raḥam" arrives, mercy ("raḥamīm") comes into the world."