Alimanas 341 



clenched talons survey his every movement ; on the earth lynxes, 

 cats, and foxes subsist chiefly on him ; while below ground 

 foumart and mongoose penetrate his farthest retreats year in and 

 year out. He seems to possess absolutely no protection, yet he 

 endures all this, supports his enemies, and increases, ever, to 

 appearance, gaily unconscious of the perils that beset him. 

 Once, however, let misfortune overtake the rabbit, and his cry of 

 distress brings instant response — from scrub and sky, from 

 thicket and lurking lair, assemble the fiercer folk, each intent on 

 his flesh. 



It is upon this fact that the system of calling, or, in Spanish, 

 chillayido, is based. The instrument is simple. A crab's claw, 

 or the green bark of a two-inch twig slipped ofl" its stalk, will, in 

 the lips of an adept, produce just such a cry of cunicular distress. 

 Armed with this, and observing the wind, one takes post con- 

 cealed by bush but commanding some open glade in front. The 

 most favourable time is dawn and dusk^ — the latter for choice, 

 since then predatory animals are waking up hungry. The first 

 "call" by our Spanish companion almost startles by its lifelike 

 verisimilitude. At short intervals these rinoino- distress-sionals 

 resound through the silent bush ; if no response follows, we try 

 another spot. First, a distant kite or buzzard, hearing the call, 

 comes wheeling this way, but naturally the birds-of-prey from 

 their lofty point of view detect the human presence and pursue 

 their quest elsewhere. The rabbits themselves, from some 

 inexplicable cause, are among the first to respond. 



Within that opposite wall of jungle you detect a furtive 

 movement ; presently with jerky, spasmodic gait a rabbit darts 

 out ; it sits trembling with staring eyes and ears laid aback ; 

 another rolls over on its side and performs strange antics as 

 though under hypnotic influence. In two minutes you have a 

 seance of mesmerised ral)bits. 



My companion touches me on the arm ; away beyond, and 

 half behind him (almost on the wind), stands a fox intently gazing. 

 Before the gun can be brought to bear it is necessary to step 

 round the keeper's front, and one expects that that first move- 

 ment will mean the instant disappearance of the vulpine. Not 

 so ! There he stands, statuesque, while the manoeuvre is executed. 

 Is he, too, hypnotised ? On one occasion the authors, standing 

 shoulder to shoulder with the keeper behind them, were only 



