SIKA DEER 49 
Skull and Antlers of Japanese Sika. 
The SIKA DEER (Cervus [Pseudaxis] sica). 
The Japanese sika deer is the typical representative of a group of 
deer in which the antlers are shorter and simpler than is usually the 
case in the red deer group, and have generally four tines, including a 
trez, but lacking a bez. The coat is spotted, at least in summer, and 
there is a black-bordered white area in the region of the tail, which is 
relatively long. They constitute the sub-genus Pseudar’s. In the 
typical species the tail is white at the tip, but black above for at 
least some part of its length; and the gland on the hind cannon-bene 
is covered with white hairs. The coat is chestnut-red with numerous 
white spots in summer, and browner, with no (or only indistinct traces 
of) spots in winter. These deer are distributed over Northern China, 
Manchuria, Japan, and the Liu Kiu Islands, where they are represented 
by two or three races differing chiefly in size. In the Japanese deer 
(C. seca typicus), which inhabits Japan and Northern China, the height 
at the shoulder varies from about 2 feet 8 inches to 2 feet 10 inches, 
whereas in the Manchurian deer (C. s¢ca manchuricus) it reaches 3 feet 
3 inches. The Liu Kiu race is not yet named. Both the Japanese 
and the Manchurian races have been acclimatised in English and Irish 
E 
