THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
disposes of three old errors: First, that this beast always hunts 
alone, or at most in couples; second, that it does not go 
Predatory @broad by daylight; third, that it is too proud or fas- 
Methods. —tidious to eat what it has not itself freshly killed. 
Incidentally it also implies the truth of the statement, of which 
direct evidence is difficult to obtain, that the lion is a polyga- 
mist — may consort with more than one lioness at a time; and 
it is probable that most troops of lions consist of members of 
a single family group of various ages. Frequently mates hunt 
together, having no cubs, or leaving them at home; and two 
or several males often join for work in concert. Lord Dela- 
mere met with several such instances in Somaliland.*! One 
was a case of three, all with fine manes, leaping on a pony and 
its native rider. The rider escaped by a flying leap into a 
thorn bush, whereupon the lions knocked down and calmly 
ate the pony on the spot, regardless of other hunters near by, 
showing that the custom of dragging the quarry away and 
hiding it is by no means invariable. In fact, you never know 
what a lion will do. In the face of one, a gun is far better than 
a guidebook to its habits! The other was a case where Lord 
Delamere arranged to stop the depredations of a lioness which, 
had been prowling near his camp, and would probably come 
back that night. His men constructed a little fort of thorns, 
tied a donkey near by as a bait, and Delamere, with a So- 
mali, lay down in it to watch for the animal. The marauder 
came but offered no shot, and Delamere presently fell asleep. 
“Tt was a lovely night, but even by the brightest moonlight a lion is 
not a very easy thing to see. There was an open glade in front of the 
Night donkey, and at last, standing right out in the open, I saw two 
Forays. lions. .. . As I watched they suddenly started and came 
racing towards us side by side like two enormous dogs. When the lions 
got up to the donkey they did not seem to stop in their rush, but donkey 
and lions all went down in a crash together. How they actually knocked 
him over I did not see, as at the moment I drew back my head involun- 
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