1 82 POWER OK SCENT. 



that he takes them out with his mouth, much as a hawk picks 

 a bird of his feathers ; sometimes in his eagerness to make 

 his feast he tries to swallow the skin with the undergrowth of 

 young quills, and I know of one instance where a fine tiger 

 was choked to death by them. 



It has been stated that tigers hunt their prey by scent as 

 dogs hunt a hare or fox, and that they can wind you as deer 

 do. I have taken particular pains to ascertain whether this is 

 the fact, and I am almost, I may say quite, sure that it is 

 not ; although like all other animals they have large olfactory 

 nerves they have not that peculiar sensitiveness of the organs 

 of smell which prevails in the Canidse or Cervidae. I have 

 watched tigers over and over again when out after prey, and 

 I never saw them put their nose to the ground or hunt by 

 scent ; moreover they have no idea of taking advantage of the 

 wind when stalking. I have seen two tigers watching a stag, 

 like two cats watching a mousehole, with the wind blowing 

 straight from them to the deer, which naturally soon made 

 itself scarce. I maintain that if tigers added the power of 

 hunting by scent, and stalking up wind, to their wonderful 

 sight and keen sense of hearing, to say nothing of the 

 absolute noiselessness of their movements, they would seldom 

 or never fail in securing their prey, and this would be against 

 the law of nature, which always allows a certain number 

 of chances to the weaker animals, otherwise they would be 

 exterminated. 



I may here mention the curious behaviour of a tiger, 

 which I have noticed more than once. Many of the woods 

 on the Nielgherry plateau are isolated, and dotted about the 

 open grassy hills and slopes, varying in size from a mere 

 patch to several acres. On one occasion I was out looking 



