282 THE TEAIL OF THE TIGER 



during the formation of its habits in early youth. 

 It is passing strange how tigers are given indi- 

 viduality in the hill districts of India, where the 

 natives tremble at the mere mention of the terrible 

 name. 



The cattle killer is not a wide ranger unless 

 hunted. Usually he confines his work to few vil- 

 lages, taking toll of them with impartiality and 

 with regularity, and killing about seventy bullocks 

 a year, of an average value of $8 to $10 a head; 

 for it is to be remembered that the tiger usually 

 gets the least valuable, the stray or the weakly cast 

 adrift after outliving its usefulness. The more 

 valuable are not so often raided, because in India 

 cattle are very carefully herded. 



The game killer is usually lighter, always the 

 most active of the three, keeps himself well in the 

 jungle, especially in the hill districts, and away 

 from villages and men, except when on a deer or 

 pig trail that carries him to cultivated fields. Thus 

 the game killer ranges widely through the jungle, 

 and is the one less often encountered by the 

 sportsman. 



Whether or not tigers hunt by scent is a question 

 that has caused much discussion at one time or 

 another, and while there can be no doubt that their 

 sense of smell is less keen than that of deer, ele- 

 phant, rhino, or the various species of gaur, yet 



