XV 
AN UNCAGED ZOO 
i8i 
found they are not labelled. It is not easy to recognise 
animals on a plain covered with tall, dry, yellow grass 
and boulders of black rock, for under such conditions 
the yellow skins of lions and hymnas look much alike. 
Before leaving camp we fed the kites and buzzards. 
These birds are real scavengers and pick up offal and 
fragments of meat about the camp. Some years ago 
in India I occasionally amused myself by throwing 
pieces of meat and liver high in the air in order to 
attract the keen-sighted kites. One of the birds would 
hy swiftly and catch the meat with its talons before it 
could reach the ground. The visual acuteness of these 
birds is wonderful, for I often tried to deceive them by 
throwing a potato or a small bread-roll into the air, 
alternately with the meat, but never succeeded. The 
rapidity with which the kites in the neighbourhood 
realised that feeding was in progress is remarkable, 
for within a few minutes after the game began, the 
birds became so numerous that the feeder would be 
surrounded by a living vortex of kites. An amusing 
practical joke is played by the Indian boys on the 
kite by spreading a blanket on the ground and laying 
a piece of meat upon it; the bird attempts to seize 
the meat and its sharp claws penetrate the blanket; 
whilst thus entangled the boys throw the blanket over 
it. It is contrary to their religious principles to kill 
these useful scavengers, so they are contented with 
pulling out a few feathers and setting the bird at 
liberty. Some fun is also obtained when the kites are 
dying around by placing a piece of meat on the turban 
of an onlooker ; suddenly the kite swoops, and whilst 
seizing the meat the claws become entangled in the 
turban ; the surprise of the man is great when he sees 
his turban sailing through the air. There is indeed 
a substantial basis for the method in which Sinbad the 
Sailor was transported by the Roc. 
In India, where the kitchen is at some distance from 
the house, it is no uncommon thing for a watchful kite 
