THE INDIAN SPOTTED DEER, OR CHITA L 



941 



Distribution 



Great difference exists in regard to the degree of divergence or span of the antlers; 

 thus, in two examples of which the respective lengths were thirty-four and thirty- 

 four and one-half inches, the span in the former case was only twenty-four inches, 

 against thirty and one-half inches in the other. 

 This 



deer is 



found nearly through- 

 out India and Ceylon, 

 but in the Himalayas 

 it only occurs on the 

 outermost spurs, and it 

 is unknown on the 

 plains of the Punjab, 

 Sind, a large part of 

 Rajputana, Assam, and 

 the whole of the coun- 

 tries to the eastward 

 of the Bay of Bengal. 

 On the hills of Southern 

 India it is found at ele- 

 vations of from three 

 to four thousand feet 

 above the sea. It has 

 been introduced by Sir 

 K. G. Loder into his 

 park near Horsham. 



The 



native 



name chital refers to 

 the dappled hide of this 

 deer, which is, perhaps, 

 the handsomest mem- 

 ber of its tribe as re- 

 gards color and form, 

 and is certainly one of 

 the most characteristic 

 of the Mammals of 

 India. Mr. Blanford 

 states that it is most 

 generally found among 

 bushes or trees in the 

 neighborhood of water, 



and in bamboo jungles, while it frequents both hilly tracts and plains, and 

 never wanders far from its drinking places. "So long," writes the author 

 named, "as it has a wild tract of bush or ravines for shelter, it appears to care 



Habits 



ANTHERS OF INDIAN SPOTTED DKHR (l), SWAMP DEER (2), 

 AND SAMBUR (3). 



