Game Animals of India, etc. 



only by the more slender and lighter antlers, but like- 

 wise in several details of coloration. The p-round- 

 colour of the coat is, for instance, a yellower and purer 

 fawn, while the white spots on the body are smaller, 

 and may be described as flecks rather than spots. On 

 the head the brown markings present a less decided 

 contrast with the fawn area, while the forehead is almost 

 wholly brown instead of showing a more or less well 

 defined dark chevron between the eyes, as is usually the 

 case in the large chital of the mainland. The chevron, 

 it is true, is present in the Ceylon animal, but its dis- 

 tinctness is largely obscured by the dark patch in the 

 middle of the forehead. Ceylon chital, I am told, 

 rarely have antlers exceeding 27 inches in length. 



Hodgson recognised two forms of chital in India, 

 Axis major and Axis minor or medius (for he uses both 

 these names), the latter distinguished by its inferior 

 size, and being a native of the southern provinces of 

 the peninsula. The smaller form, which has never 

 been properly defined, has been assumed to be common 

 to Ceylon ; but there is no evidence that such is really 

 the case, and consequently (especially in view of the 

 fact that the smaller mainland form is still undefined) 

 I have regarded the Ceylon animal as a distinct race, 

 with the name of Cervus axis zeylanicus} 



In Ceylon sportsmen attribute the small size of the 

 antlers of the chital to the lack of lime in the soil. 

 This, however, can scarcely be regarded as a vera causa 

 since there are many sandstone districts in India where 

 these deer grow orood antlers. Rather must we attribute 

 the diminution in the size of the antlers in the Ceylon 

 chital to that general dwarfing which is very common 

 in island forms. 



The near neighbourhood o\ water is essential to this 

 beautiful species ; another requisite being the proximity 

 of covert into which it can retire for repose. Chital 

 are, perhaps, the most gregarious of all Indian deer, 



^ This name was published in the FiflJ i'ov 1905, vol. iv, p. 947. 

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