JUNGLE LORE 203 



remains of the feast. If monkeys are in the neighbourhood 

 they swing along from branch to branch, jabbering and 

 cursing down at him. In inclement weather the animal 

 has a better chance of approaching his kill unperceived as 

 most of the jungle folk are then hidden away under shelter. 

 This was the case in the incidents of my first tiger already 

 related. Neither tiger nor leopard ask for, or like the 

 notoriety forced upon them. They do not perhaps mind it so 

 much when they are advancing to the kill, though even then 

 one will see them look up occasionally and show their teeth in 

 a vicious snarl ; but they dishke it immensely when they 

 are on an evening prowl, looking out for their next meal. 

 For, from the moment they are descried, and they take the 

 greatest pains to remain undiscerned, every animal in the 

 jungle is put at once on its guard by the performance of 

 the birds and monkeys. The deer know perfectly well 

 what it portends and remain on the alert till their enemy 

 has left the neighbourhood. In fact it is quite common for 

 a tiger or leopard, once he has been discovered in a jungle, 

 to be fairly mobbed out of it ; for he knows- that once all 

 the jungle animals have been informed of his presence he 

 has a poor chance of getting even a plump young doe to 

 make his meal off. 



Pea-fowl, after they have retired up on to the trees to 

 roost, also give warning of a tiger on the prowl by suddenly 

 giving voice to their " Hank ! Pa-66 ! Pa-00 ! ". in the late 

 evening or at night. 



From what has been written above it will become apparent 

 that the best and surest way for a newcomer into the Indian 

 jungle to set about picking up jungle lore, is to sit silently 

 and motionless in a machan placed in a convenient tree, 

 with a sufficiency of branches to hide him without interrupt- 

 ing the vision. Both silence and rigidity are imperative ; 

 the least sound will be heard by, and the least motion per- 

 ceived by, the hundreds of ears and eyes of the jungle folk, 

 ever on the alert and prying for danger. The motionless 

 position becomes extremely irksome, even for an hour, and 

 one has often to spend several hours in the machan. If 

 awaiting the appearance of a leopard the rifle must be held 

 in such a position that it can be brought to the shoulder 

 with the smallest possible amount of movement, for it is 

 necessary to aim and fire a fraction of a second after making 

 the movement. The leopard, who is very prompt in decision, 



