292 



THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



TUFTED DEER 



Near relatives of the odd little muntjacs 

 are the TUFTED DEER, of which two species, 

 the TIBETAN and MICHIE'S, are known to 

 naturalists. The former, found in Eastern 

 Tibet, is about the size of the Indian muntjac, 

 and has a coat of dark chocolate-brown, 

 curiously speckled on the face, neck, and fore 

 parts ; the frontal tuft is nearly black. The 

 antlers of the bucks of both this and Michie's 

 deer are extremely small, scarcely observable 

 at a first glance. Both species have long 

 curving tusks projecting from the upper jaw. 

 Michie's tufted deer is of a greyish-black 

 or iron-grey colour, the face and neck dark 

 grey. This animal is found in the reed-beds 

 bordering the Ningpo and other rivers in 

 Eastern China. 



WATER-DEER 



The CHINESE WATER-DEER is another 

 diminutive deer, standing no more than 20 

 inches at the shoulder. The body-colouring 

 is pale rufous yellow, the head and the back 

 cf the ears being darker in hue than the rest 

 of the body. The males carry no antlers. 

 This tiny deer is found in North-east China, 

 and is well known on the islands of the 



Yangtse-kiang River. It loves thick cover, especially reeds and long grass. So apt is it at 

 concealment, that in one park, where specimens are kept in a paddock of long tussocky 

 grass, hours may be spent without catching a glimpse of it. When disturbed, it scurries off 

 with short, quick leaps, very much after the manner of the hare. The males of the Chinese 

 deer, like the muntjacs, carry long curved tusks in the upper jaw. 



ROE DEER 



The EUROPEAN ROE, one of the handsomest of all the smaller deer, is still happily found 

 in many parts of Scotland. In England, where it had at one time become well-nigh extinct, 

 it has been here and there reintroduced with some success. In Ireland it seems never to have 

 been found. On the Continent its range is wide, extending from the south of Sweden, through 

 France and Germany, to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Austria-Hungary, and Spain. Found in 

 Southern Russia and the Caucasus, it makes its way eastward as far as North Palestine and 

 Persia. The roe stands, in good adult specimens, 26 inches at the shoulder, and weighs about 

 60 Ibs. The handsome and very characteristic horns measure in good specimens from 10 to 

 13 inches over the outer curve. The summer coat of this beautiful little deer is a bright 

 rufous brown ; in winter a darker and duller brown, with a notable white patch about the tail. 

 The roe is always more or less a wood-loving creature. In winter, especially, it seldom cares 

 to quit the shelter of the forest; in summer, however, the deer wander into more open localities. 

 The fawns are born generally towards the end of May, and two young are usually produced. In 

 the rutting-season the males fight savagely with one another. 



Mr. J. G. Millais gives an instance of a buck killed in one of these desperate battles, in 

 which one antler of the victor, having penetrated the brain of the vanquished buck, had been 



Carl Hagtnbtcl] 



SIBERIAN ROEBUCK 



Shoivs a magnificent f>air of antlers 



