They only grunt , and the buffaloes very seldom say anything , but get down into the muddy pools one after another , and work their way into the mud till only their noses and staring china-blue eyes show above the surface , and then they lie like logs . The sun makes the rocks dance in the heat , and the herd children hear one kite -LRB- never any more -RRB- whistling almost out of sight overhead , and they know that if they died , or a cow died , that kite would sweep down , and the next kite miles away would see him drop and follow , and the next , and the next , and almost before they were dead there would be a score of hungry kites come out of nowhere . Then they sleep and wake and sleep again , and weave little baskets of dried grass and put grasshoppers in them ; or catch two praying mantises and make them fight ; or string a necklace of red and black jungle nuts ; or watch a lizard basking on a rock , or a snake hunting a frog near the wallows . Then they sing long , long songs with odd native quavers at the end of them , and the day seems longer than most people 's whole lives , and perhaps they make a mud castle with mud figures of men and horses and buffaloes , and put reeds into the men 's hands , and pretend that they are kings and the figures are their armies , or that they are gods to be worshiped . Then evening comes and the children call , and the buffaloes lumber up out of the sticky mud with noises like gunshots going off one after the other , and they all string across the gray plain back to the twinkling village lights . Day after day Mowgli would lead the buffaloes out to their wallows , and day after day he would see Gray Brother 's back a mile and a half away across the plain -LRB- so he knew that Shere Khan had not come back -RRB- , and day after day he would lie on the grass listening to the noises round him , and dreaming of old days in the jungle . If Shere Khan had made a false step with his lame paw up in the jungles by the Waingunga , Mowgli would have heard him in those long , still mornings . At last a day came when he did not see Gray Brother at the signal place , and he laughed and headed the buffaloes for the ravine by the dhk tree , which was all covered with golden-red flowers . There sat Gray Brother , every bristle on his back lifted . `` He has hidden for a month to throw thee off thy guard . He crossed the ranges last night with Tabaqui , hot-foot on thy trail , '' said the Wolf , panting . Mowgli frowned . `` I am not afraid of Shere Khan , but Tabaqui is very cunning . '' `` Have no fear , '' said Gray Brother , licking his lips a little . `` I met Tabaqui in the dawn . Now he is telling all his wisdom to the kites , but he told me everything before I broke his back . Shere Khan 's plan is to wait for thee at the village gate this evening -- for thee and for no one else . He is lying up now , in the big dry ravine of the Waingunga . '' `` Has he eaten today , or does he hunt empty ? '' said Mowgli , for the answer meant life and death to him .
`` He killed at XXXXX , -- a pig , -- and he has drunk too .
Gray buffaloes children dawn day half pools ranges surface way