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Borneo, or the other islands of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago, 

 except those above mentioned. Its absence from Ceylon Leads 

 Mr. Blanford to conclude that the Tiger has only recently migrated 

 into Southern India. 



The principal food of the Tiger in India is cattle, deer, wild hog, 

 and pea-fowl, and occasionally human beings. The regular "man 

 eater " is generally an old Tiger whose vigour is passed, and whose 

 teeth are worn and defective ; it takes up its abode in the neigh- 

 bourhood of a village, the population of which it finds an easier 

 prey than the larger or wilder animals named above. Though 

 chiefly affecting grassy plains or swamps, it is also found in forests, 

 and seems to be fond of haunting the neighbourhood of old ruins. 

 As a rule, Tigers do not climb trees ; but when pressed by fear, as 

 during an inundation, they have been known to do so. They take 

 to the water readily and are good swimmers. The Tigers of the 

 Sundarbans (Ganges delta) continually swim from one island to the 

 other to change their hunting-grounds for deer. The following- 

 extract on the habits of the Tiger is taken from Sir J. Fayrer's 

 Royal Tiger of Bengal (1875) : — 



"The tigress gives birth to from two to five, even six cubs; 

 but three is a frequent number. She is a most affectionate and 

 attached mother, and generally guards and trains her young with 

 the most watchful solicitude. They remain with her until nearly 

 full grown, or about the second year, when they are able to kill for 

 themselves and begin life on their own account. Whilst they 

 remain with her she is peculiarly vicious and aggressive, defending 

 them with the greatest courage and energy, and when robbed of 

 them is terrible in her rage ; but she has been known to desert 

 them when pressed, and even to eat them when starved. As soon 

 as they begin to require other food than her milk, she kills for 

 them, teaching them to do so for themselves by practising on small 

 animals, such as deer and young calves or pigs. At these times 

 she is wanton and extravagant in her cruelty, killing apparently 

 for the gratification of her ferocious and bloodthirsty nature, and 

 perhaps to excite and instruct the young ones, and it is not until 

 they are thoroughly capable of killing their own food that she 

 separates from them. The young tigers are far more destructive 

 than the old. They will kill three or four cows at a time, whilst 

 the older and more experienced rarely kill more than one, and this 

 at intervals of from three or four days to a week. For this pur- 

 pose the tiger will leave its retreat in the dense jungle, proceed to 

 the neighbourhood of a village or gowrie, where cattle feed, and 

 during the night will steal on and strike down a bullock, drag it 

 into a secluded place, and then remain near the 'marrie,' or 

 ' kill,' for several days, until it has eaten it, when it will proceed 

 in search of a further supply, and, having found good hunting 



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