ON THE HABITS OF TIGERS 109 
the reptile his discomfiture was amusing : he bounded 
into the air and ran a few yards, then turned, 
snarling with ill temper. When this tiger at last 
found himself in the most favourable position for 
attack, he spent some time in adjusting himself for 
the start, arranging and rearranging his feet to 
obtain perfect balance, and finally shot across the 
open at full gallop. He had covered the first half 
of the distance before the deer realized their danger, 
and was within a few yards before they had got up 
their speed and fled with startled cries. Their 
escape was narrow enough to prove that luck might 
be sometimes against them, and that, though the 
tiger on this occasion returned grumbling with 
vexation, he might on another be successful in 
securing a toothsome meal. 
Tigers will sometimes roar when approaching a 
kill, and often do so on leaving it; the differences of 
intonation are easily recognized after hearing them 
a few times. They are also particularly noisy when 
seeking a mate, and their courtships are often 
accompanied with bloodshed ; for not only do the 
males fight amongst themselves, but apparently the 
females do not always escape punishment. An 
instance of this occurred at Kateniaghét, where I 
heard two tigers fighting off and on during the 
night, and next morning found the tigress close by 
with somewhat severe injuries to the chest and 
throat ; judging from the muddy state of her coat, 
she had apparently been pinned down and worried. 
The tiger was lying some 200 yards farther up 
the stream, and had not fled on hearing the shot 
fired at his mate; he seemed to be in an evil temper, 
