This paper deals with the head-hunting habits of certain tribes in Further India and Indonesia. It points out that the decapitated head is a male sexual symbol and is used in a magical way to fertilize the fields of the village in which it is kept. The head also has a concealed homosexual relationship to its captor, as is exemplified by the custom according to which the successful head-hunter must keep his trophy under his bed for five days after he has taken it, during which time he must have no contact of any kind—sexual, social or oral—with women. The head is furthermore expected to protect its new owner from evil spirits, although it itself represents the man whom he has killed and might therefore be expected to be hostile to him. But this is probably because the slayer has projected on to it his own unconscious love for his former enemy and victim.