746 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XI, 



the N.-W. Provinces, and here, all deer, and especially sambhar and chital, 

 have the power of scenting and of winding developed in a very marked 

 decree ; it is probable that the former, if placed in similar circumstances 

 would be found to be no whit behind the red deer of Scotland in this respect, 

 and no sportsman who has witnessed the stealthy departure of the sambhar 

 stac when he has winded his enemy, or the retreat of the chital, would for 

 the future doubt that in the great majority of cases the success of the stalker 

 is dependent on the wind. In these parts too the tiger is not incapable of 

 following up a drag ; he will do it if he likes for long distances ; and also he 

 has been observed tracking a sambhar hind whose evident anxiety pointed to 

 suspicion of danger. When a tiger returns on a dark night to his kill from 

 great distances, I believe that in the majority of cases he runs a back trail, 

 and that he has no better memory than any other jungle animal. As a rule 

 when the presence of danger is indicated from a distance, the animal 

 affected removes itself silently, and the hunter generally knows nothing about 

 it ; but it may not at times suit the convenience of an animal to do this. 

 A fed stag will often lie low in the hope that he may be overlooked, 

 although he may have winded, heard, and even seen his pursuer. A tiger 

 which has been much hunted will not follow up a drag if the careless 

 shikari has permitted a man to walk on the new trail. Those footsteps must, 

 to any animal possessed of instinct, reveal the ageucy of man and arouse 

 suspicion ; a different case surely to that when domestic animals are openly 

 tied up, and the tiger hopes to elude discovery by dragging the carcase for a 

 distance. One is open to assume that in the one case the stag had no sense 

 of hearing or scent, and in the other that the tiger was phenomenally stupid, 

 but my experience would in the circumstances lead me to conclude that not 

 only scent but cunning was highly developed. To question in deer the 

 power of winding and scenting, one must first deny these powers to the 

 natural enemies, for otherwise the handicap would be too outrageously unfair. 

 Let a strong breeze be blowing through the forest in the spring when the deer 

 are lying in the undergrowth and can hear or see nothing but the rush of 

 falling leaves and sweeping boughs ; or take a foggy winter morning -when all 

 sound is deadened on the sodden leaves and reeking grass, without the 

 power of winding a danger, the deer would have absolutely no protection 

 against either man or carnivora ; and this they know full well, for they will 

 change their forest quarters with each change in wind direction and will 

 always feed up wind in cases of doubt. With regard to alarm calls I have 

 seen stags call as well as hinds, but I have never known a note to be sounded 

 when danger is winded. This leads to an undemonstrative departure ; but 

 danger seen, heard or suspected will be advertised by repeated cries if at a 

 safe distance ; if inconveniently close however, one sharp cry is followed 

 by headlong flight. Many animals will stand and gaze at the sportsmen if 

 they are not observed ; the serow is a past master at this trick, the panther 



