258 Game of Europe, W. & N. Asia & America 



In addition to their superior size, the antlers of the Siberian roe are 

 generally easily distinguishable from those of the other species by the 

 much greater development of the "tags" of bone on the beam, which are 

 sometimes so large as to be almost like small tines. There is also a decided 

 tendency to the development of more than the normal three tines, especi- 

 ally in the case of specimens in which the upper portion oi the antler is 

 more or less flattened and expanded. 



The largest pair of antlers of this species recorded by Mr. Rowland 

 Ward are in the possession of Mr. Carl Hagenbeck. ; they measure 18^ 

 inches along the curve. Next to these come a pair in the collection of 

 Viscount Powerscourt, which have a length of 16, a basal girth of 4^, and 

 a tip-to-tip interval of 12 inches. In the pair figured on the preceding 

 page the length is 14 inches and the tip-to-tip interval 13I inches. 



The habitat of this roe is definitely known to extend from the Altai 

 and the mountains of Turkestan to Eastern Siberia, while it is quite 

 probable that it also includes the Caspian provinces of Persia. The range 

 does not extend so far east as the mouth of the Amur river, neither does it 

 reach so far north as that of certain species of true deer. During winter 

 the roe migrates southward into Manchuria and apparently Corea, remain- 

 ing there from the latter part of November till the end of March or 

 beginning ot April, when it returns northwards to its mountainous Siberian 

 resorts. 



By this migratory habit, as well as by its gregarious nature, the 

 Siberian roe is broadly distinguished from the European species. It is in 

 early winter that these deer collect in herds preparatory to migration ; the 

 number thus assembled being not unfrequently between three and five 

 hundred. During winter thick forests form the favourite resorts of the 

 species ; small coverts and swampy districts being more afi'ected in summer, 

 when these animals take to the water as readily as their European relatives. 

 The pairing-season occurs in September, by which time the full winter 



