THE SAM BUR GROUP 943 



and if disturbed generally attempting to elude observation by concealment, or by 

 trying to sneak quietly away. I have often, when beating for tigers, seen a cunning 

 old stag with his head down silently creeping away through the jungle, sometimes 

 passing almost under the elephants. When on foot, I have known a herd come 

 quietly past within two or three yards of me in thick cover, and even at that short 

 distance have had difficulty in getting a shot. It might be supposed that such a 

 brightly-colored animal would be very conspicuous in the forest, but this is far from 

 being the case; unless it moves, few beasts are more diffiult to see; the color of the 

 skin harmonizes with the dead leaves and grass, while the white spots are indis- 

 tinguishable from the little flecks of light caused by the sunshine passing through 

 the leafy branches. Chital generally assemble in herds of from ten to thirty, among 

 which are probably two or three stags, but occasionally herds of hundreds are met 

 with. On being disturbed, and especially on detecting the presence of a beast of 

 prey, the chital utters a sort of shrill bark, and many a time has this cry betrayed a 

 tiger to the sportsmen. The stag's cry is a peculiar moaning sort of bellow, and is 

 generally to be heard at night. Immense numbers of spotted deer are frequently 

 met with when beating for tigers, and many are shot off elephants in this way. In 

 long grass it is of course only possible to shoot them from elephants, but however 

 satisfactory it may be to bowl over a stag in full career by a clever snap shot from 

 the howdah, it cannot, in my opinion, compare with the pleasure of stalking and 

 shooting the same animal on foot, where the nature of the country renders it possi- 

 ble." The months of March, April, and May are the best for chital shooting on 

 foot in the valleys and low hills on the flanks of the Himalayas. Remains of deef 

 apparently nearly allied to the chital are found in the Pliocene formations of the 

 south of France. 



THE SAMBUR GROUP (Cervus unicolor, etc.) 



Nearly allied to the chital is a group of deer from Southeastern Asia, dis- 

 tinguished by the brow-tine of the three-pronged antlers forming an acute angle, 

 instead of nearly a right angle, with the beam, as shown in the figures on pp. 928 and 

 941. The majority of this group are peculiar in that they are uniformly colored at 

 all ages, although in two forms the young are spotted, while in one case this type of 

 coloration persists in the adult. 



The well-known Indian sambur is the largest member of this group, as it is the 

 largest of all the true deer, next to the representatives of the red-deer group. Ex- 

 ternally the sambur is characterized by its coarse wiry hair, which on the neck and 

 throat of the adult male is elongated to form an erectile mane. The ears are large 

 and broad, and the tail thick and of moderate length. In color the fur is a nearly 

 uniform dark brown throughout, tending, however, in some individuals to a more or 

 less well-marked yellowish, and in others to a grayish tinge. The chin, under parts, 

 and inner surfaces of the limbs, are always yellower, and may be yellowish white. 

 In the ordinary form the young are likewise uniformly colored, but there is said to 

 be a variety in Cachar of which the fawns are spotted. The height of the buck 

 varies from four to five feet, and possibly rather more at the withers, and large speci- 

 mens have been killed weighing 560 pounds (40 stone) and 700 pounds (51 stone). 



