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 afforded 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. 
VOL. II orp, 
