314 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV. 



From this case we gathered two facts : — 



(a) That where there is no suitable cover, in which to creep close 



up, the panther takes a spring on to its prey, and 



(b) That the throat is the part seized at once. 

 Case 2. — 



My milk goats were out grazing on the borders of some jungle quite 

 adjacent to our camp when one of them was seized at about 1 p.m., 

 and rescued by the plucky conduct of a very old dame who had charge 

 of them. The four wounds made by the canine teeth were on the 

 throat, close behind the jaw, and the goat was carried into camp in a 

 dejected condition. 



The same day at about 4-45 p.m., with a mind intent on observation, 

 we selected a tree in which to sit. It was not a suitable tree, in that 

 our matchan was far too greatly exposed. To hide behind a huge 

 bundle of leaves, in a deciduous teak tree, with practically no leaf on it, 

 shows a want of commonsense. A small quantity undoubtedly helps 

 to hide the structure, where a larger number would be liable to suddenly 

 draw attention to the position. I enter upon the question of our 

 position being unavoidably exposed at some length, because, it has, as 

 will be seen, an unfortunate bearing on the sequel. 



Towards the end of December the moon was three-quarters full, so 

 I hoped to be able to see clearly enough to make our subsequent notos 

 accurate. Unfortunately a misty haze prevailed combined with a few 

 drifting clouds. We naturally selected an open space, but the cover on 

 three sides of us — south, east and west — was quite thick ; that on the 

 south extending to within a few paces of the "tie." The under- 

 growth I refer to here consisted of that extremely hardy, prickly, 

 persistent, and valueless perennial, the Lantaua {Lantana seandens), a 

 plant introduced, it is believed, as a rare flowering shrub by some 

 misguided lover of gardens, and one which now bids fair to bring 

 under its all-absorbing influence large areas of land on which 

 something better might be grown. 



Well, after sunset, while the moon was partially hidden by one of the 

 passing clouds referred to, I saw what looked like a long dark shadow 

 gradually emerge from the very thick lantana on the south side and 

 seize the goat, after a spring of not more than nine feet, again neatly by 

 the throat. There was no sound beyond that created by the collapse of 

 the goat and the landing of the panther. There never is. We sat and 

 intently watched that panther with its jaws firmly fixed in the goat's 



