; THE SWAMP-DEER GROUP 947 



r"' 



and have the front tine of the terminal fork directed inwardly, while the outer sur- 

 faces of the ears are nearly devoid of hairs. 



The last and smallest representative of this group is the hog-deer, 

 or para (C. porrinus), of India and Burma, which stands only some 

 twenty-four inches in height at the withers. In build, this species is characterized by 

 the relative shortness of its legs, while the tail is rather long, and there is no mane 

 on the neck and throat. The comparatively-short antlers are mounted on very long 

 bony pedicles, and after giving off the brow-tine have a nearly straight beam till the 

 small terminal fork, the front branch of which is longer than the hind one. There 

 are no tusks in the upper jaw. In color, the fur of the para is brownish, with a 

 more or less decided yellowish or reddish tinge; each hair being tipped with white, 

 so as to produce a speckly appearance. The under parts are paler, and the under 

 surface of the tail and the insides of the ears white. The fur becomes paler in sum- 

 mer, and is then generally marked with light brown or white spots, which may be 

 limited to one or two rows on either side of a dark streak down the back. The 

 young have the whole body spotted, till they attain the age of some six months. 

 The antlers seldom exceed ten or twelve inches in length. 



In India the hog-deer is confined to the great Indo-Gangetic plain, where it 

 ranges from Assam to the Punjab and Sind, and is quite unknown in the peninsula, 

 though a small colony has been introduced into Ceylon. It occurs along the Terai 

 at the foot of the Himalayas, and from Assam its range extends into Burma and 

 Tenasserim. 



The para swarms on many of the low alluvial plains of India, to which situa- 

 tions it is mainly, if not exclusively, restricted. Here it frequents the grass jungles 

 of moderate height, avoiding the taller ones which give shelter to the buffalo and 

 rhinoceros. Sometimes, however, they may be met with among trees. As a rule, 

 hog-deer are solitary creatures, and it is but seldom that more than two or three are 

 found together, although several may inhabit one patch of jungle. The pairing season 

 is said to be in September and October, and the antlers are generally shed in April. 



The hog-deer is an ungainly animal when moving, and General Kinloch states 

 that both ' ' its English and specific names have been derived from the hog-like 

 manner in which it rushes through the long grass when disturbed, keeping its head 

 low down, and galloping without that bounding action which characterizes most 

 deer." Hog-deer are generally shot from elephants and afford good sport, although 

 they are difficult to hit, since as a rule the only indication of their presence is a sud- 

 den rush in the long grass, in the direction of which the sportsman must fire. 

 General Kinloch says, that "hog-deer may be speared on favorable ground, and give 

 splendid runs; they are very fast, and usually give a much longer chase than a boar. 

 I have heard of instances of their deliberately charging a horse, and with theit 

 sharp horns they can inflict a very severe wound." 



THE SWAMP-DEER GROUP (Cervus duvauceli, etc.) 



The swamp deer, of which the antlers are figured in the cuts on pp. 928 and 941, 

 differs from all the Indian deer hitherto noticed, in that the antlers carry more than 



