The Leopard 571 



come to drink ; or they fairly stalk them, up wind, advancing in the 

 stealthiest manner, and noiselessly threading their way through the densest 

 and most intricate jungle. The final rush is made with lightning-like 

 rapidity and in silence ; the throat is usually seized and the jugular vein 

 severed, but the death-wounds are often given in the back of the head and 

 neck. Sometimes the neck is broken ; however, careful observation has con- 

 vinced me that this is not done — as by a lion — intentionally, but that the 

 animal, standing on uneven ground when attacked, has rushed forward, and 

 the weight of the leopard on its neck has brought it down on its head, and 

 caused dislocation. For whereas a lion achieves this result by dragging the 

 head of its prey downwards, seizing it by the nose with one paw, I have 

 never yet known this to be done by a leopard, though the latter frequently 

 tears its victim across the eyes. If two leopards attack, the neck and shoulders 

 are seized ; I cannot recollect an instance of these animals seizing the flanks. 

 After killing, leopards drag their prey, if possible, to the nearest thicket, 

 and, opening it at the flank, disembowel it as neatly as a lion would do, and 

 partially bury or cover over the entrails. Having eaten the viscera, how- 

 ever, they attack, not the buttocks, but the breast bone, eating all the meat, 

 soft bones, and cartilage ; the ears and nose are often bitten off, and the 

 tongue torn out. Leopards seldom dismember large portions, as lions will 

 do, in order to carry them ofF and devour them leisurely under a bush or 

 tree ; they set to at the carcase, and eat it where it lies. Should they sus- 

 pect that it has been interfered with, they seldom return to it, though they 

 may drag it up into a tree, for they are agile climbers, and the weights they 

 thus manipulate testify to their great strength. I have seen carcases 

 weighing from 80 lbs. to 150 lbs. thus dragged up and placed in the fork 

 of a branch 12 to 15 feet from the ground. When returning to a 

 kill, a leopard, unlike a lion, always examines the branches of the surround- 

 ing trees, and if at all suspicious makes a circle round the spot before 

 advancing to the carcase ; and if it has reason to suspect interference will 



