119 



" flight of wild fowl ; and so it appears with the animal we are 

 " treating of- An instance occurred, not long ago, which struck the 

 " observer at the time as very curious : three jungle sheep were 

 " grazing, outside a small wood, some twenty or thirty yards apart ; 

 " the stalker was watching his opportunity, when either by a slant 

 " of wind or quickness of vision, his presence was suspected, the 

 " animal furthest from the other two caught the alarm, quietly 

 "walked down to the next one, appeared to whisper something in 

 " its ear, and away all three bounded, in their peculiar manner, 

 " and disappeared into the sholah. I have heard, indeed I know, 

 " of a similar case with elephants, where a large herd, assembled 

 " under some high trees, during the heat of the day, received this 

 "mysterious communication of alarm from a female, some forty 

 " yards away, without apparently any noise or distinctive action 

 " on her part, to give rise to the immediate alarm and dispersion of 

 " the herd, that instantly took place ; it was marvellous ! But to 

 " return to our deer. It is curious to observe it, when not alarmed, 

 " on changing its ground form one wood to another, or coming out 

 " to feed in the evening, how daintily and warily it steps, lifting 

 " each leg well above the grass or leaves, and noiselessly, as a 

 " phantom, moving along, glancing here and there, with its bright 

 " eye alive to the slightest noise or movement in its neighbour- 

 " hood. The buck jungle-sheep has a small pair of horns, which, like 

 " the samber, are shed yearly. They are neat and pretty, and the 

 " head itself, if well preserved, is a fitting ornament for the mantle- 

 " piece, or as a stand below a picture frame. 



" The general mode of beating for this little animal is the same 

 " as that observed with samber. A wood is surrounded or com- 

 " manded at various likely sports, and the beaters and dogs sent in, 

 " either above or below, according to the nature of the ground, or 

 " the vicinity of other woods ; and the deer shot as it breaks 

 " away. He is a good shot, who can kill a jungle sheep at speed 

 " with a single buljet. 



It has been now clearly established that the muntjac, like other 

 deer sheds its horns annually ; but this does not appear to have 

 been fully ascertained until lately, as at page 184, vol. 3, of The 

 Naturalist's Library, there is the following remark evidently 



