ant to cover themselves with mud? Because of the
tormenting flies! Buffaloes of this kind do not have long hair on
their necks, like the American buffaloes. In fact, they do not have
much hair anywhere on their bodies--just like the ordinary cows which
you have seen near your home. So they are very much tormented by the
flies.

I have told you that an elephant can "swat" the flies with a bough
which he holds in his trunk. But the buffalo has no trunk, and his
tail can whisk off the flies for only a yard around. So, what can the
buffalo do to guard other parts of his body from the flies?

The only thing he can do is to go down into the mud, roll about, and
cover himself with the mud. Then he does not feel the flies at all,
even if they swarm all over him. And he need not trouble to work his
tail at all, as he is protected all over by the mud.

And when he comes out to feed again, if the sun happens to be very hot
at that time, he does not mind it. Why? Because the mud on his body
keeps off the sun. So, you see, the mud is useful to the buffalo in
two ways.

But now come with me into the jungle while I show you all that the
buffaloes do.

You must _imagine_ that I am taking you quietly through the jungle,
where the buffalo herd is grazing right ahead of us. We are following
them from behind. You must be careful not to make a sound. If you
should tread on a rotten twig, the buffaloes would hear the sound as
far away as a quarter of a mile.

In another book I shall tell you why all animals that keep their _ears
close to the ground_ while they are feeding can _hear a sound a long
way off_.

But now let us hide behind this bush for a minute, and watch the herd.
They are eating the grass as they walk along. But do you see the
wonderful way in which they are arranged? It is just like the shape of
the moon when it is new, that is, something like the letter C, and
which we call a crescent.

You saw at the midnight pool that, when the buffaloes drink or march,
they are in rows close together, like soldiers. But when they are
eating grass, they could not be in rows; because then they would be
too close together to pick out the best bits of grass. So, how could
they have enough to eat, and yet guard themselves from danger? To do
this they thought of arranging themselves in the form of a crescent.

_How Buffaloes Guard against Tiger while Feeding_

It is a big crescent, as there are so many buffaloes that make it up.