JUNGLE LORE 201 



unmistakable once the eyes and ears are opened to the 

 meaning. It is simple jungle lore, but none the less its 

 acquisition is imperative on the part of the shikari if he 

 wishes to enjoy sport, apart from the mere killing, or 

 target practice. 



I have mentioned the crow. He is probably one of the 

 most useful of the jungle birds to the sportsman. Once 

 the crow's actions and the crow's warning notes are under- 

 stood, the presence of a kill in the neighbourhood, or the 

 advance of a tiger or leopard to a kill, can be read with 

 certainty. The crow is the advance picket in the jungle and 

 worthily he fulfils the duties of the post. Crows feed on 

 meat (when they can get it), and a dead animal holds 

 out to them the promise of a fine meal. When the 

 animal is a villager's dead cow or jungle animal which 

 has died through some cause other than sudden death 

 beneath the claws of the larger carnivora, the crow 

 considers he has as much right to his share as any- 

 one else and disputes with magpies, vultures and others 

 to get it. But matters are very different when the 

 dead animal is a kill made by tiger or leopard. The 

 crows then know perfectly well to whom the kill belongs, 

 and that the owner is somewhere in the vicinity. They 

 either sit dejectedly in the trees near by, or vociferate 

 noisily to one another ; one or two bolder than the rest will 

 fly down, have a hurried peck or two at the carcase, and 

 then in fear fly squawking back to their perches. If one is 

 sitting in a machan in the neighbourhood, the crows are 

 perfectly aware of one's position, and will do their best, 

 by raising the alarm note, to lure the owner of the feast 

 back to the carcase, in the mistaken belief that a marauder 

 is feeding on it. For both tiger and leopard know that 

 there are lesser beasts and also birds of the jungle who 

 will take their fill from the carcase if they can summon 

 up pluck enough. They both lie up in the neighbourhood 

 of their kills to protect them ; the leopard, with his greater 

 cunning, hiding the carcase if possible. 



The vultures collect with the crows and sit about in trees. 

 One can make certain of the fact that there is a dead animal 

 in the forest or neighbourhood, and judge with accuracy its 

 position by observing the vultures. If they are seen quitting 

 their stations up in the sky, where they wheel in great circles 

 ever on the look-out, shooting towards a point and gradually 



