CHAPTER XVII 



JUNGLE LORE 



The lore of the jungle a fascinating study — Jungle warnings — ^The crows 

 — The advance picket — Crows' food — The tiger and leopard's kill — 

 Crows, vultures, hyena and jackal — Wild cats — The owner advancing 

 to his kill — Demeanour of birds and monkeys — Unenviable notoriety 

 — Attitude of deer — Uses of the machan — " Picking out " animals in 

 the jungle — Jungle kit — Knowledge of country necessary — Tiger 

 and leopard — Methods of hunting them — Manner of securing their 

 prey — Tracking — Physical fitness necessary — Jungle voices — Attitude 

 of animals towards each other — Homeric fights. 



THE lore of the Jungle ! What a fascinating 

 subject it is ! There are so many aspects of 

 jungle life to study, and the more deeply one's 

 researches go the wider the field which opens 

 out before one, until at length the at first faintly con- 

 ceived surmise gradually grows into a conviction that the 

 enquirer into jungle lore will remain at school all his days. 

 Herein lies the fascination. There is always a new page to 

 turn and invariably something of high interest to be obtained 

 by perusing it. 



Take for instance one of the first aspects of jungle life 

 to which the attention of the sportsman is attracted : the 

 warning which the jungle folk pass on when danger is 

 approaching. This warning, though intended for the friends 

 of the utterer, is understood by the whole community even 

 though amongst themselves they may be respectively the 

 oppressor and oppressed. 



Most of us know, all boys know, the frightened screech 

 emitted and passed on by the blackbirds, crows, and so on, 

 when danger in the form of a youngster armed with a 

 catapult is discerned lurking in a clump of bushes. The 

 denizens of the Indian jungle behave in exactly the same 

 way. The approach of tiger or leopard or man himself, is 

 heralded by certain birds and mammals in a manner quite 



