 How the tengu was transformed from a dog @-@ meteor into a bird @-@ man is not clear . Some Japanese scholars have supported the theory that the tengu 's image derives from that of the Hindu eagle deity Garuda , who was pluralized in Buddhist scripture as one of the major races of non @-@ human beings . Like the tengu , the garuda are often portrayed in a human @-@ like form with wings and a bird 's beak . The name tengu seems to be written in place of that of the garuda in a Japanese sutra called the Emmyō Jizō @-@ kyō ( 延命地蔵経 ) , but this was likely written in the Edo period , long after the tengu 's image was established . At least one early story in the Konjaku Monogatari describes a tengu carrying off a dragon , which is reminiscent of the garuda 's feud with the nāga serpents . In other respects , however , the tengu 's original behavior differs markedly from that of the garuda , which is generally friendly towards Buddhism . De Visser has speculated that the tengu may be descended from an ancient Shinto bird @-@ demon which was syncretized with both the garuda and the tiāngoǔ when Buddhism arrived in Japan . However , he found little evidence to support this idea . 
