ANTELOPES AND DEER 



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pursued, having some fairly long tusks in the upper jaw which it 

 uses to advantage. 



SIKA, OR JAPANESE DEER.— A small group of these interesting 

 beasts are shown in Fig. ioo. This is a common Deer in Japan 

 and Northern China; it is of handsome attire, being brilliant chest- 

 nut, profusely spotted with white. When the bucks have the antlers 

 in the velvet they are still more attractive, for these are bright 

 chestnut-red in colour tipped with black. The Sika has been intro- 

 duced into several English Deer parks, and although the male is 

 of small stature he is a powerful beast and will, says Mr. Protheroe, 

 "often carry off the hinds of the Red Deer in face of the bigger 

 red bucks." This is evidence of a wild animal keeping up the 

 plucky traditions of the wily little Japs whose country has, during 

 the last decade, made such remarkable strides in the progress of 

 civilization. 



ALTAI. — The Altai (Fig. 101) is a tenant of Central Asia and 

 is the Asiatic representative of the handsome Wapiti Deer. It is 

 smaller in size than the last-named, although the male has larger 

 horns. Presumably its habits are similar to those of the Wapiti 

 already described. The photograph (Fig. 101) shows a doe with 

 her two-days-old fawn. 



MUSK DEER.— Of similar distribution to the Altai, the Musk 

 Deer (Fig. 102) is chiefly remarkable because of the absence of 

 antlers in both sexes ; it is the only species of Deer that has no 

 gall-bladder to the liver ; it possesses the simplest form of brain of 

 any of the Deer, and has an abdominal pouch or pod in which the 

 brownish musk is secreted. This, although it is exceedingly strong 

 when first taken away, makes a pleasing scent when diluted, and 

 is also usefully employed as a medicine. 



There are structural details concerning the canine teeth of the 

 upper jaw which should also be mentioned, for these are so large 

 that they give the animal a curious appearance, and they have been 

 aptly compared to the tusks of the young Walrus. 



In other ways this Deer is unique, for the feet are quite distinc- 

 tive ; it is sure-footed, an inhabitant of precipitous rocks and 

 mountains, where, among the pine woods, it finds a congenial home. 



The long, coarse coat of hollow hair admirably protects the 



Musk Deer in Winter, and it varies in colour from rich dark-brown 



to brown and yellowish-white. The beast stands about two feet 



high, is somewhat clumsy in appearance, yet is wonderfully active 



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