its having fallen from his hair where he had fastened it under his turban, the bear would not have ventured to attack him."] Leopards[1] are the only formidable members of the tiger race in Ceylon, and they are neither very numerous nor very dangerous as they seldom attack man. By Europeans they are commonly called cheetahs; but the true cheetah, the hunting leopard of India (_Felis jubata_), does not exist in Ceylon. There is a rare variety which has been found in various parts of the island, in which the skin, instead of being spotted, is of a uniform black.[2] The leopards frequent the vicinity of pasture lands in quest of the deer and other peaceful animals which resort to them; and the villagers often complain of the destruction of their cattle by these formidable marauders. In relation to them, the natives have a curious but firm conviction that when a bullock is killed by a leopard, and, in expiring, falls so that _its right side is undermost_, the leopard will not return to devour it. I have been told by English sportsmen (some of whom share in the popular belief), that sometimes, when they have proposed to watch by the carcase of a bullock recently killed by a leopard, in the hope of shooting the spoiler on his return in search of his prey, the native owner of the slaughtered animal, though earnestly desiring to be avenged, has assured them that it would be in vain, as, the beast having fallen on its right side, the leopard would not return. [Footnote 1: Felis pardus, _Linn_. What is called a leopard, or a cheetah, in Ceylon, is in reality the true panther.] [Footnote 2: F. melas, _Peron_ and _Leseur_.] The Singhalese hunt them for the sake of their extremely beautiful skins, but prefer taking them in traps and pitfalls, and occasionally in spring cages formed of poles driven firmly into the ground, within which a kid is generally fastened as a bait; the door being held open by a sapling bent down by the united force of several men, and so arranged to act as a spring, to which a noose is ingeniously attached, formed of plaited deer hide. The cries of the kid attract the leopards, one of which, being tempted to enter, is enclosed by the liberation of the spring and grasped firmly round the body by the noose.