THE RED-DEER GROUP 935 



guttural tone, in the hangul it is distinctly a roar, which my be compared to that 

 of a leopard. The antlers of the Kashmir stag average about forty inches in length, 

 but specimens have been obtained of which the measurements were respectively fifty- 

 two, fifty-three, and fifty-five inches. 



The true hangul is confined to the mountains surrounding the valley of Kashmir 

 and some of the adjacent districts. There is, however, a deer from Eastern Turkes- 

 tan known as the Yarkand stag, which appears to be merely a variety of this species, 

 distinguished by its straighter antlers and the paler color of the fur. In Kashmir 

 the hangul, which is essentially a forest animal, is found in summer at elevations of 

 from 9,000 to 12,000 feet. In winter, however, it descends to the valleys during 

 heavy falls of snow, and at such times it is ruthlessly attacked by the villagers, as 

 many as five hundred head, it is reported, having been thus slaughtered upon a 

 single occasion. These indiscriminate slaughters, together with the more orthodox 

 pursuit by English sportsmen, have so thinned the ranks of this fine deer, that it is 

 now becoming comparatively rare, and unless proper means are taken for its preser- 

 vation, it stands a good chance of being exterminated at no distant date. 



In summer, hangul are generally found singly or in small parties, the old stags 

 being usually solitary, but in winter they collect in herds. The antlers of the stags 

 are usually shed about March, and the new ones do not attain their full development 

 till October. In that month and through November the males are continually call- 

 ing, and it is this time that is the proper shooting season. The fawns are born in 

 April, so that the period of gestation appears to be only about six months, or con- 

 siderably less than in the red deer. Leith Adams states, that hangul "are seldom 

 confined to one region, but roam from forest to forest, preferring grassy glades alter- 

 nating with dense forests, where there is a copious supply of water. ' ' I have on one 

 occasion seen a small party of these deer on the I,adakh side of the mountains bound- 

 ing Kashmir where there is no forest. 



Far to the southeast of Kashmir, probably in the districts lying between Dar- 

 jiling and L/Hassa, there occurs a much larger deer, known as the shou (C. affinis}, 

 In addition to its superior dimensions, this deer is distinguished from the hangul by 

 the beam of the antlers being strongly bent forward just above the trez-tine while 

 the bez-tine is less constantly longer than the brow-tine. Each antler seems to have 

 constantly but five points. Antlers have been measured of fifty-four, fifty-five, and 

 fifty-five and three-fourth inches in length; anything like such dimensions being 

 only very exceptionally attained by those of the Kashmir stag. The height of the 

 animal is from four and one-half to five feet at the shoulder. 



In the Caspian provinces of Persia, and probably also in Circassia, the red-deer 

 group is represented by the maral (C. maral). This is a large species allied to the 

 last, but distinguished by the much greater length of the face, and by the crown of 

 the antler having apparently always more than two tines. Specimens of this species 

 in confinement are kept entirely apart from some red deer inhabiting the same in- 

 closure. These deer are said to be abundant in the thick forests of the Caspian 

 provinces of Persia, but we know very little about their habits. 



Another Old- World deer of the present group is the great Thian-Shan stag (C 

 tustephanus) from the forest regions of the mountain barrier on the northwest fron- 



