i82 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



animals exercise a peculiar influence on the Peafowl by their mere presence. It is said 

 that the birds will either fly directly at the great cats and buffet them with wings and 

 spurs, or they will stand paralyzed with fear, in either case falling an easy prey to the 

 carnivore. When such an idea has the widespread belief which this has, there is always 

 some truth at the bottom, but I had no chance to verify or disprove it. Colonel Tytler 

 relates an incident in detail which bears directly upon this subject. One day, when 

 stalking a Peacock, he was surprised to find that he had suddenly closely approached it, 

 and that, bestowing no thought on him, it seemed intently gazing on a tiny patch 

 of jungle just in front. Halting for a moment, he discovered a leopard stealthily 

 crawling on its belly towards the Peacock. He was much astonished ; he had never 

 heard of leopards in the neighbourhood, but his astonishment exceeded all bounds 

 when, on his raising the gun (he had ball in one barrel), and covering the leopard, it 

 suddenly threw up both its paws and shrieked in a voice hoarse with terror, '' Nehin 

 Sahib, Nehm Sahib, nmt chulao'' (No sir, No sir, don't fire). He said that for a 

 moment he thought he must be going mad ; floods of reminiscences of enchanted 

 princes, fairy tales, wehr-wolves, and the like, flashed like lightning through his mind. 

 The next, he saw a man very cleverly got up in a leopard skin, with a well-stuffed head, 

 and a bow and arrows in one paw, standing before him. 



From this man he learnt that he was a professional fowler, and that thus disguised 

 he always pursued Peafowl, as whenever able to get anywhere near them, they always 

 allowed him to approach near enough to shoot them with his bow, or at times even to 

 seize them with his hands. 



The Javanese believe firmly in the intimacy between tiger and Peacock, and give 

 as the reason that the latter likes to feed on the intestinal worms of the tiger's victims, 

 taking them after the tiger has left the body of its prey. In other countries the tiger is 

 considered to benefit from the wariness and quick senses of sight and hearing of the 

 bird, and this is not an unreasonable explanation. 



Where Peafowl are not held sacred, the natives have many ways of snaring them, 

 both by dead-falls and by nooses attached to bent saplings. In some cases the birds 

 are enticed by imitating the call of the male. This is reproduced with wonderful 

 closeness, the native placing his hand over his mouth and producing the sound from 

 the depths of his chest. Another method of taking Peafowl is by building a blind 

 near a spring, and waiting until the birds come to drink. The chances of success are 

 increased by hanging white rags and pieces of tin on bushes near adjacent drinking 

 places to frighten the birds. In this way junglefowl are also taken. 



In wet, thick jungle, if hunted without dog or beaters, the Peafowl will usually run 

 along, slinking behind bushes and making their way with remarkable silence and 

 rapidity through even the densest thickets. But at the least real alarm, the birds take 

 to wing. When unencumbered by drenched plumage in any kind of open country, they 

 usually rise at once, and make their way into the tops of the tallest trees, where their 

 quick eyes foil any attempt at stalking, and unless the jungle is of the densest character, 

 making it hopeless to reach the foot of the tree and obtain a shot. Many accounts 

 of Peafowl shooting have been written, and may be consulted in the host of books on 

 sport in India. The easiest way to get them is to mark down their roosting tree, and 

 while I was glad to avail myself of this for the sake of specimens for scientific study, 



