46 



Jerdon, that " it is a common belief of the Ryots that in the open 

 " plains where there is no cover or concealment wolves scrape a hole 

 " in the earth in which one of the pack lies down and remains hid, 

 " while the others drive the herd of antelope over him." I have 

 been told by the same keen and renowned sportsman who gave me 

 the information about bears eating carrion, and the account of his 

 having speared a hunting leopard, vide pages 27 and 41 of these 

 notes, that on one occasion having got in front of a herd of antelope 

 that were feeding and coming gradually towards him : he waited 

 for some time, until they were within rifle range when he shot one 

 of them. Suddenly no less than three large wolves roused by the 

 report sprang up from the open plain between him and the herd 

 which of course went off at full speed while the wolves trotted 

 quietly away. He could not see whether the wolves had any 

 confederates behind the antelope but he thought they had not. On 

 examining the spot, where each wolf had been concealed, he found 

 that each had been in a hole, freshly scraped in the bare plain, in 

 which it continued to hide itself so perfectly, that he had passed 

 within a few paces of each of them, without being aware that it was 

 there : another moment would, he said, have brought the leading 

 females of the herd up to the ambush. Apropos of this, I may 

 mention that at Nursipatam, I remarked a couple of jackals prowl- 

 ing close to my hut one of them suddenly squatted flat in a small 

 hollow while the other strolled on ; presently an outcry among my 

 poultry attracted my attention, and I saw the second jackal deliber- 

 ately drive some of my fowls from beneath a country cart where they 

 were taking shelter from rain towards the first, who, with head and 

 ears laid close to the ground, was eagerly watching the proceedings. 

 I interfered of course. 



Wolves vary a good deal in color and length of hair, probably 

 with season and climate. I have seen some a light reddish grey, and 

 others much darker than any jackal. Near Hyderabad in the Deccan, 

 a brother officer and I, both of us then young and light weights, rode 

 our horses, fair Arabs, to a stand-still after a large wolf, with very 

 long hair, and to use his words, " nearly as red as an Irish setter.'' 



In this case the ground, black cotton soil full of holes, was in 

 favor of the wolf, but I do not believe that a wolf, unless gorged, 



