xv AN UNCAGED ZOO 181 



found they are not labelled. It is not easy to recognise 

 animals on a plain covered with tall, dry, yellow grass 

 and boulders of black rock, for under such conditions 

 the yellow skins of lions and hyaenas look much alike. 

 Before leaving camp we fed the kites and buzzards. 

 These birds are real scavengers and pick up offal and 

 fragments of meat about the camp. Some years ago 

 in India I occasionally amused myself by throwing 

 pieces of meat and liver high in the air in order to 

 attract the keen-sighted kites. One of the birds would 

 rly swiftly and catch the meat with its talons before it 

 could reach the ground. The visual acuteness of these 

 birds is wonderful, for I often tried to deceive them by 

 throwing a potato or a small bread-roll into the air, 

 alternately with the meat, but never succeeded. The 

 rapidity with which the kites in the neighbourhood 

 realised that feeding was in progress is remarkable, 

 for within a few minutes after the game began, the 

 birds became so numerous that the feeder would be 

 surrounded by a living vortex of kites. An amusing 

 practical joke is played by the Indian boys on the 

 kite by spreading a blanket on the ground and laying 

 a piece of meat upon it ; the bird attempts to seize 

 the meat and its sharp claws penetrate the blanket ; 

 whilst thus entangled the boys throw the blanket over 

 it. It is contrary to their religious principles to kill 

 these useful scavengers, so they are contented with 

 pulling out a few feathers and setting the bird at 

 liberty. Some fun is also obtained when the kites are 

 flying around by placing a piece of meat on the turban 

 of an onlooker ; suddenly the kite swoops, and whilst 

 seizing the meat the claws become entangled in the 

 turban ; the surprise of the man is great when he sees 

 his turban sailing through the air. There is indeed 

 a substantial basis for the method in which Sinbad the 

 Sailor was transported by the Roc. 



In India, where the kitchen is at some distance from 

 the house, it is no uncommon thing for a watchful kite 



