JAVAN JUNGLEFOWL 257 



The last roosting-place which I shall mention was almost equally striking and 

 unexpected. I have already spoken of its location, an underground cavern near the 

 summit of one of the limestone ridges. With the aid of an electric flash lantern I once 

 made my way to this spot after nightfall, and dropping a bit of stone into it I awakened 

 the inmates and heard the unmistakable voices of several Junglefowl, but could see 

 nothing. One day, by means of much painful squeezing, I managed to enter the outer 

 part of this cave, and ^by a most uncomfortable twisting upside down I could see into a 

 still deeper portion. Here were several broad, sharp-angled ledges, and the feathers 

 and sign beneath them showed that they must have been used for a long time. They 

 were so isolated from the floor that nothing without wings could have reached them, 

 and here the birds spent their nights in safety. Scores of tiny bats were hanging in 

 festoons on the walls, so that the cavern afl'orded a shelter to wild creatures both by 

 day and night. Judging from the number of Junglefowl which every afternoon made 

 their way up the slopes of this ridge, there must have been at least a dozen which found 

 nightly shelter somewhere near the summit. The only reasons, however, that I have 

 for thinking that most of these may have roosted in the cave are, first that I was unable 

 to find any other roosting-place on this entire ridge, and again judging by the abund- 

 ance of feathers and sign in even the partial view which I could get of the interior of 

 the cave. ■ 



The Junglefowl of the coast seemed to be peculiarly isolated. The other birds of 

 this vicinity had nothing in common with them, and if they were seen anywhere in the 

 neighbourhood of one another the association was of the most casual character. The 

 natives, as I have said, bothered the birds in this region hardly at all and apparently 

 knew but little of trapping. Their four-footed enemies are very numerous, and the 

 mongoose, martens and snakes doubtless make life one great need for vigilance and 

 watchfulness. Wild boars are said to do much damage in ferreting out the eggs and 

 devouring them. It was doubtless the fear of such enemies that drove some of 

 the Junglefowl near Patjiran to utilize such unusual roosting-places. It was rather 

 significant that the forest guard near this place told me that it was in the rainy season 

 that the small four-footed carnivora are most abundant and do most damage to 

 poultry. This was also the season when the Junglefowl from the interior come toward 

 the coastal lowlands. 



I was not fortunate enough to obtain any insight into the actual tragedies of life of 

 these birds. Often, however, while I was watching them through my glasses quietly 

 feeding, a nearby rustle would send them fleeing headlong through the tangle, some- 

 times directly past my blind. Again, when the wind filled the air with rustling sound 

 of leaves and bamboo stems, the birds would pay no attention whatever. I could 

 never discover the author of any of the sounds which alarmed them so. Only when I 

 myself came upon them suddenly, or pursued them to the edge of some small patch of 

 cover did I see them take to wing to escape. At all other times their sturdy legs were 

 trusted to carry them into safety. I never saw females or young birds in their native 

 haunts squat to avoid observation. When confined in small native quakes or baskets, 

 and alarmed at one's approach, the male, if a newly-caught bird, would invariably 

 dash madly about and try to force his way out, while the newly captured females often 

 squatted until one had approached quite closely, when they too fluttered wildly. 



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