The Living Animals of the World, Volume I: Mammals

The Deer Tribe 291

The SWAMP-DEER, the true Barasingh of India, as distinguished from the Kashmir stag, which is often loosely called Barasingh, is a plain-loving species, found in various parts of India, and characterised by handsome antlers, bearing as many as from 10 to 16 points. This is a big, heavy deer, standing nearly 4 feet at the withers, and weighing as much as 40 stone. The summer coat is light rufous, more or less spotted with white. The winter coat is yellowish brown. A near relative to this deer is SCHOMBURGK'S DEER, found in Northern Siam. The antlers of this stag are most curiously forked and bifurcated. The THAMIN, or ELD'S DEER, sometimes called the Brow-antlered Deer, is another plains-deer, found chiefly from Manipur, through Burma, to the Malay Peninsula. It is a good-sized species, standing about 3 feet 9 inches at and the shoulder, weighing Jas stone. as 17 antlers much The large are Photo by the Duchess of Bedford} [Wobur/i Abbey... simple in type, the brow-tines curving down MALE SIBERIAN EOE. very large species of roebuck, with more rugged antlers than thecuriously over the forehead; the tail is sharp, A and the neck provided with a mane, the young European-roe. being spotted. A Siamese race of Eld's deer, found in Siam and Hainan, differs somewhat from the Burmese type.

THE MUNTJACS.

The MUNTJACS, or BARKING-DEER, are a group of small deer found in India, Burma, and the Malay region. The INDIAN MUNTJAC stands about 2 feet in height, and weighs some 28 Ibs. The antlers, which average 5 or 6 inches in length, bear two points brow-tine and beam; the lower portions, or pedicles, are curiously covered with hair, and the front of the face is ribbed or ridged in V fashion. The general colour is a golden bay, the face and limbs brown, and the lower parts white. The buck has sharp tusks in the upper jaw, and, at a pinch, knows how to make use of them. A shy, stealthy little creature, the muntjac loves dense cover, and the sportsman usually obtains but a quick snapshot at this active and wary little deer as it flashes across him much as does a bolting rabbit scuttling across a narrow drive. Local Indian names for the barking-deer are Jungle-sheep, Ked Hog-deer, and Eib-faced Deer. the Duchess of Bedford} [Wobum Abbey.Other muntjacs, varying somewhat from the photo by Indian form, are the HAIRY-FRONTED, the TENAS- FEMALE SIBERIAN ROE. all roes, is well shown.SERIM, the TIBETAN, and the CHINESE MUNTJACS. The absence of a tail, characteristic of

of the World292 The Living Animals

TurrED DEER. Near relatives of the odd little muntjacs are the TUFTED DEER, of which two species, the TIBETAN and MICHIE'S, are known to naturalists. The former, found in Eastern Tibet, is about the size of the Indian muntjac, and has a coat of dark chocolate-brown, curiously speckled on the face, neck, and fore parts; the frontal tuft is nearly black. The antlers of the bucks of both this and Michie's deer are extremely small, scarcely observable at a first glance. Both species have long curving tusks projecting from the upper jaw. Michie's tufted deer is of a greyish-black or iron-grey colour, the face and neck dark grey. This animal is found in the reed-beds bordering the Ningpo and other rivers in Eastern China.

WATER-DEER. The CHINESE WATER-DEER is another diminutive deer, standing no more than 20 inches at the shoulder. The body-colouring is pale rufous yellow, the head and the back

By permission oj Hen- Carl Hagenbeck] [Hamburg. of the ears being darker in hue than the rest SIBERIAN ROEBUCK. of the body. The males carry no antlers. Shows a magnificent pair of antlers. This tiny deer is found in North-east China, and is well known on the islands of the Yangtse-kiang Eiver. It loves thick cover, especially reeds and long grass. So apt is it at concealment, that at Woburn Abbey, where specimens are kept in a paddock of long tussocky it scurries offgrass, hours may be spent without catching a glimpse of it. When disturbed, with short, quick leaps, very much after the manner of the hare. The males of the Chinese deer, like the muntjacs, carry long curved tusks in the upper jaw.

ROE DEER.

The EUROPEAN EOE, one ot the handsomest of all the smaller deer, is still happily found in many parts of Scotland. In England, where it had at one time become well-nigh extinct, it has been here and there reintroduced with some success. In Ireland it seems never to have been found. On the Continent its range is wide, extending from the south of Sweden, through France and Germany, to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Austria-Hungary, and Spain. Found in Southern Russia and the Caucasus, it makes its way eastward as far as North Palestine and Persia. The roe stands, in good adult specimens, 26 inches at the shoulder, and weighs about 60 Ibs. The handsome arid very characteristic horns measure in good specimens from 10 to 13 inches over the outer curve. The summer coat of this beautiful little deer is a bright rufous brown; in winter a darker and duller brown, with a notable white patch about the tail. it seldom caresThe roe is always more or less a wood-loving creature. In winter, especially, to quit the shelter of the forest; in summer, however, the deer wander into more open localities. The fawns are born generally towards the end of May, and two young are usually produced. In the rutting-season the males fight savagely with one another.

Mr. J. G. Millais gives an instance of a buck^ killed in one of these desperate battles, in which one antler of the victor, having penetrated the brain of the vanquished buck, had been

Photo by Ottomar Anschutz]

FEMALE EUROPEAN ROE DEER.

Though common in the Scotch woods, these deer are rarely seen, keeping close in cover all day.

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broken clean off and remained embedded in the skull, firmly wedged between the ears and the antlers. "When wounded and brought to bay by a dog," says Mr. Millais, "a roebuck brings into play both head and fore legs in his defence, using his horns as described, and striking out with his legs, more as if to push off his antagonist than to cause a forcible blow, for he gives no shock, as a hind can. A doe, too, uses her fore legs and boxes with her head; and that he has seen a doe useMr. Steel, who has had wide experience in roe-shooting, tells me her hind legs as well. The bark of the buck is loud, sharp, and deep in tone, not unlike what a single call might be from an old collie. At this season, too, the female gives an amorous call when she wishes the male to come to her. If he is within hearing, he puts his neck out straight and comes full speed to her. In Germany many roebucks are shot by alluring them in this manner, and calls exactly imitating her voice are made for the sportsman's use. One who has shot roe in this manner tells me it is most exciting sport, for the buck comes straight

Photo ly the Duchess of Bedford] [ Woburn Abbey.

PERE DAVID'S DEEK.

Nineteen of these deer are at Woburn Abbey; three are at Berlin. It is believed that these are the only deer of this species in existence.

for the sound at full speed, and will only stop startled for a second when he discovers the fraud, and as often as not he passes right on without giving a chance."

Eoe have a curious trick of chasing one another in play, and certain roe-rings in the woods near Cawdor Castle, according to Mr. Millais, demonstrate the fact that for ages the deer have been in the habit of disporting themselves in these strange circles over the same pieces of ground. The fact is very singular. " These curious circles are most used in early summer; and Sutherland, the head keeper, tells me," says Mr. Millais, " that hardly a morning passes without there being one or two roe playing in the rings, and sometimes there is quite a party of them." Koe feed chiefly on grass; they will eat also rowan (mountain-ash) berries, of which they are especially fond, as well as turnips, grain, heather tops, and various other roots and plants. Certain fungi, to which they are partial, they take much pains to dig out with their sharp hoofs. "A roebuck that I once kept," says Mr. Millais, "was a good Scotchman, though he had a beastly temper, for he liked nothing so much as oatmeal porridge." Roe make delightful pets, but the bucks are not to be trusted after the third year. One of these animals, supposed

The Deer Tribe 295

to be tame, has been known to kill a lad. In Scotland and on the Continent roe deer are usually killed by driving, and large bags are often made. Even within recent times, as many as sixty-five roebucks and thirteen hinds have been shot at Beaufort, Lord Lovat's place in Inverness-shire, during a day's driving. Shot-guns are employed for this kind of sport. Stalking the roe is not so much pursued in Scotland as it might be. It is a first-rate and most interesting form of sport, and in certain districts the rifle might very well be Photo by the Duchess of Bedford] [Woburn Abbey. GROUP OP VIRGINIAN DEER (TWO BUCKS, FOUR DOES). substituted for the shot- " These are the common deer of the Eastern United States. gun. Roe-stalking," says Mr. Millais, "possesses it at a season when there is nomany charms of its own. In the first place, you can enjoy all nature isother shooting going on; secondly, it takes you out in the early morning, when full of life and beauty, and before the heat of the day commences; and, thirdly, where the chase of the animal is systematically conducted, as with red deer, the nature of the sport is everything that can be desired. I would therefore put forward a plea that tenants and owners of part-wood, part-forest lands in Argyll, Inverness, Ross, and Aberdeen should turn their attention to stalking the roe in preference to killing them during the usual winter wood-shoots." Roe deer are exceedingly abundant in the great forest regions of Germany and Austria- Hungary. In Austria alone, not including Hungary, during the year 1892, no less than 68,110 of these beautiful little deer were shot on various estates.