214 



" down as equally mischievous with the tiger, with, perhaps, the 

 " only one exception, that they do not so generally attack the Todah 

 " buffaloes as the tiger does, when he has an opportunity. 



" The next in order and size is a short but sturdy-looking speci- 



" men with short tail, a powerful animal. One shot on the crags 



" near Mailkoondah, a very old fellow, was of this description, and 



" quite distinct in appearance from a younger animal shot in the 



" same vicinity ; then there is a light-bodied active animal, with 



" very long tail, often taking to trees when disturbed by dogs or 



'* beaters, affording a very easy shot, when so situated, to the 



" sportsman. Another variety is the very small, stumpy, round" 



" bodied little cheetah, which may be said almost to inhabit the 



" trees in the large woods and forests, both on the mountains and 



4i below. I shot one of this description some years ago, in the 



" Northern Division, and the very same evening a shikaree brought 



" in for the reward one of the largest leopards I have seen. I 



" could, in examining them, trace no perceptible difference in the 



" formation of the rose spots on the skin, though there was a marked 



" distinction in color, the small animal being of a deep rufous red 



" compared with the larger one. The tree-leopard is said to pay 



" especial attention to the monkeys ; being equally nimble, he chases 



41 them from branch to branch, or lying hidden along the stem, sud- 



" denly drops on his unconscious prey. In the Annamallies these 



" leopards are often met with, and on one occasion, on the approach 



4t of the sportsman, one having dropped off a tree, the remains of 



" his prey, in the shape of a black monkey, was left hanging on a 



" part of the branch from which the leopard had dropped into the 



41 underwood below. Of the hunting leopard nothing need be said 



" here, as he belongs entirely to the plains, and with regard to him 



" I have only the one observation to make, that we know exactly 



" how he takes his prey, viz., by his speed, though it is generally 



" supposed, even in his case, that he actually captures the antelope 



" by a spring, because in a short run he usually does so ; but in 



" cases where a good buck has tested the cheetah's powers of speed, 



" he often makes a last effort to reach the deer, and then generally 



" strikes the animal on the hind-quarters, bringing the buck quite 



" round by the force of the blow, thus enabling the cheetah to seize 



