HABITAT. In the time preceding the Glacial Epoch, lions, indistinguishable by their remains, entombed in the floors of eaves. from modern forms, roamed over all Southern Europe. Ger many, France, and the British Isles. They seem to have been exterminated in the North and West by the glacial cold, but survived in :southeastern Europe well into historic times, for the Romans knew of them anciently in what is now Rumania, Greece, and European Turkey; and still inure re cently they have existed in Syria and Arabia. These animals probably were driven away by man. They were also formerly numerous from the Caucasus to Afghanistan and Baluchistan; but are now scarce and local in Asia, extinct in Asia. Alinor, Arabia. and Egypt, and have nearly or quite disappeared from Algeria.
fn Asia they were formerly abundant on the sandy wastes of Rajputana and the high plains of Persia, but now have almost or quite disap peared from India. and are confined to the swampy lowlands of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, and certain valleys east of the Per,iatt Gulf; in Africa they are to be found in the naked deserts of the Southern Sahara, the Kalihari Desert, and the Abyssinian regions, as well as among the rough hills of and the dense swamps of the Upper Nile tributaries. Everywhere, during the day. they are likely to hide and sleep in secluded dusters of brush grown rocks, thickets of thorny bushes. or patches of reeds or tall grass with the color of which their yellow coats arc perfectly in ac cord. It is in such haunts and in the spring that the whelps are born. Usually there are three young, and rarely are more than five pro duced. They are born with their eyes open (the pupils are round). Although during the pairing season the lioness apparently delights in provoking jealous combats for her favors, by which the weaker members of the race are con tinually 'weeded out' and only the strongest survive to produce offspring (see SEXI'AL TION), she makes a devoted mother, and the male stays with his family and assists in supplying their wants until the young are well grown. It is said that old lions of unusual strength are often polygamous; and it is also asserted that ordinarily the same mates keep together for sev eral successive seasons, or for life. Probably both assertions are true; likely it is also true that other pairs change annually. Where the animals are or were very numerous, polygamy and frequent change of ninte would be likely to happen more often than where they were few and the range of choice correspondingly limited. No young lion can get a mate, nor an old one keep her, where others are about, except by fight ing.
Where lions have not been much disturbed by guns they are likely to he seen abroad and hunt ing in the daytime, sometimes in small family troops, but elsewhere. and generally, they proo 1 and hunt at night. Though able to gallop for a short distance, their weight and their feline nature incline them to adopt stealthy approach or ambush in their hunting. They art unable to
climb trees. Imt are nimble enough in seramblintt about rocks. Knowing the of the animals they seek, they wait beside their paths or at their drinking-places, or skillfully -talk them in the open. depending as nineh. probably. on their eyesight as on their faculty of scent. What they eat depends upon Hwy liVO. In India deer, antelopes. wild boars. and lesser will animals are largely supplemented by domestic or semi dbmestie cattle. goats. pigs. ut ries. camels. and an occasional nimbi. In 1\ petamia the lions Would greatly decrease or starve were it not for the large herds of half-wild pigs that range the oak forests east of the Persian Gulf. In Africa their great numbers were correlative with the hordes of game with which that continent was frequently overrun, and the disappearance of this game means the doom of the 'king of beasts.' un less cattle replace the wild grazers. The ele phant, rhinoceros. and hippopotamus are be yond its powers, and the buffalo is able to resist a single lion, as a rule, though frequently pulled down by two or three acting in concert. The larger antelopes and equine animal, are the lion's natural and constant prey, and it seems to prefer the latter—the zebras and wild asses. These animals, however, keep in the open plains, are quick to perceive and swift to escape in tended attack, and in the days when game was abundant most lions fed mainly on antelopes. Even here, however, they had not always an easy victim. Schulz, who gives an unusual amount of information as to the Central African lion in his New Africa, says that this beast does not dare attack roan and Ilarris's antelopes in his usual manner, a leap from behind to the haunches. "for with their backward sweeping horns they are able to make things lively for any lion foolish enough to make the attempt. These, with hornless game, such as the quagga. they seize by the The method of attack has been deserihed in so many ways hy creditable hunters and native observers, that it is evident no one method ex ists, but if the first lightning-like leap and over hearing stroke does not crush the animal. the nose may be seized in a paw and the head jerked back, breaking the neck; or the great blood-ves sels of the throat may be gnawed open. or the animal simply be mauled to death. It is cus tomary for the lion, like other great eats, to carry or drag its prey into a thicket or near its lair before feeding upon it, and under the excite ment of being disturbed and chased it is capable of extraordinary feats of strength in so doing, but these seem to have been exaggerated. That he can drag a large animal a eonsiderable dis tance is undoubted. Having killed his prey. he eats at once what he wants of it. If other lions have helped him, they get what they are able to take. When they are satisfied. any lioness or young lions near by get such share- of what remains as their agility and courage enable them to seize.