FELTS. 61 



Tigers are monogamous. The period of gestation is about 14 to 

 ] 5 weeks, and from 2 to 5 young, aud occasionally it is said even 

 6, are produced at one time. I have on more than one occasion 

 known four cubs to be cut out from a tigress's body after death. 

 There is no particular season for breeding. Young cubs are found 

 at all times of the year. The tigress is said to avoid the male 

 when about to bring forth, and to hide her young from him ; but 

 tigers are occasionally, though not often, seen accompanying 

 tigresses and cubs. The young remain with the mother until 

 nearly or quite full-grown ; and when more than two tigers are 

 found consorting together, the party consists in general of a 

 tigress and her full-grown offspring, the old tiger occasionally 

 associating with his family also. Eorsyth observes that a tigress 

 cannot have young more frequently than once in three years, 

 because the cubs take about that time to attain their full growth. 



These animals are usually found solitary or in pairs, less fre- 

 quently in parties of from three to six. They remain at rest during 

 the day, and roam about at night in search of food. Their 

 wanderings are considerable, and frequently extend to many miles 

 in the course of the night, a preference being given to well-beaten 

 tracks or sandy beds of streams. On these, in the early morning, 

 every incident of the night's adventures may be traced by an 

 experienced tracker. The tiger sometimes continues his stroll in 

 the early morning, and his movements, as Forsyth remarks, " may 

 often be traced up to eight or nine o'clock by the voices of monkeys 

 and peafowl, the chatter of crows and small birds, and the bark of 

 satnbar and spotted deer." The alarm-cries of all these animals 

 are quite peculiar and different from their ordinary calls ; but it 

 must be remembered that the cause of their alarm may be a leopard, 

 a wild cat, a bear, a dog, or even in some cases a man, and not 

 necessarily a tiger. 



The tiger usually takes up his abode for the day in deep shade, 

 especially in the hot season, and in general near water under a 

 dense bush or tree, in high green grass, or in thick low cover such 

 as green rushes, tamarisk, or some of the other plants that grow in 

 the beds of streams. Not unfrequently a high bank affords him 

 the cool shade he loves, and in rocky parts of the country caves 

 are frequently resorted to ; where ruins exist in jungle they are 

 often a favourite abode. A well-known habit of all wild animals, 

 but especially remarked in the case of the tiger, is the regularity 

 with which particular haunts are selected in preference to others 

 that appear equally well suited. Some one patch of high nul grass 

 near the river-bank or on the edge of the swamp, one dense thicket 

 of jhow (Tamarix) or jdman (Euyenia) amongst a dozen apparently 

 similar in a stream-bed, one especial pile of rocks amongst hundreds 

 along the hill-side, will be the resort year after year of a tiger, 

 and when the occupant is shot, another, after a brief interval, takes 

 his place. 



Tigers, especially in the cold and wet seasons, when there is 

 abundance of cover and water, are great wanderers, roaming from 



