857 



CERVID^E. 



CERVID^E. 



858 



Hind (Hiiid), Uinde Kalb (Calf) of the Germans ; Hart (Stag) and 

 Hinde of the Dutch ; Hjort, Kronhjort (Stag), and Hind, of the 

 Swedes ; Krouhjort, Hind, Kid, or Hiud-Kalv, of the Danes ; the 

 Cervui vulgarii, Limueus; C. nobills, Klein; Cerrut, Pliny; 'EAa<f>or, 

 Aristotle; Cervus Germanicus, Brisson ; Trayelaphva, Gesner; Hipp- 

 elaphus, Johnston. 



This noble species is a native of the forests of the whole of Europe 

 and Asia where the climate is temperate. In England it is intimately 

 blended with the old oppressive forest laws, which valued the life of 

 a man at less than that of a stag, and with some of our legends of 

 deadly feud : ' Chevy Chace,' for instance. The stag-hounds that 

 formerly roused the deer on the moors of the west of England are at 

 present dispersed, and although in Scotland villages have been depopu- 

 lated to let it run wild, it is the rifle of the deer-stalker principally 

 that now brings the stag down. . 



The Red Deer is distinguished by its brown colour. The rump has 

 a pale spot extending rather above the upper surface of the base of 

 the tail. They sometimes attain a great size. Pennant speaks of one 

 that weighed 18 stones Scots, or 314 Ibs., exclusive of the entrails, 

 head, and skin. The Prince of Canino has described a Corsicau variety 

 as Cemtt Corsicus. Buffon remarks of this species that he believes its 

 email size depends on a deficiency of nourishment, for when removed 

 to better pastures it becomes even bigger than the Common Stag. 



5. C. Barlarua, the Barbary Deer, is chiefly distinguished from the 

 Common Stag and the Algerian variety of it by its smaller size, stouter 

 form, and more permanently-spotted fur. It is the Bush-Goat of the 

 Moors, and inhabits the coasts of Barbary. 



6. C. Woilichii, the Bara Singa, or Mori, is an Indian species. It ia 

 also found in Persia, where it is called Maral, Gevezu, or Gookoohee. 

 It is the Cei-vut Pyyaryui of Hardwicke ; also Jesrael, or Tailless Deer, 

 and Red Deer, of India. 



7. C. affinin, the Saul-Forest Stag, the Stroa or Tibetan Stag of 

 Hodgson, the Bara Singha of the Hindoos. The bones are as heavy 

 and as large as those of the Wapiti. 



8. C. SU:a, the Sika, is of a dark-brown colour, and has rather 

 Blender horns. It is a native of Japan. 



9. Dama vulgarii, the Fallow-Deer. This well-known ornament of 

 our parks is the Hydd (Buck), Hyddes (Doe), Elain (Fawn), of the 

 ancient British ; Le Daim (Buck), La Daime (Doe), Faon (Fawn), of 

 the French ; Damn (Buck), Damma (Doe), Cerbietto, Ccrbietta (Fawn), 

 of the Italians ; Gama, Corza (Buck), Veuadito (Fawn), of the Spanish ; 

 Corza (Buck), Veado (Fawn), of the Portuguese ; Damhirsch of the 

 Germans; Dof, Dof- Hjort, of the Swedes; Daae, Dijr, of the Danes; 

 Damu rulyarit, Gesner; Cerriu paliiiatiu, Klein; Uerttu platycerot, 

 Ray ; Cerrus Dama, Linnaeus. 



It is not certain whether the common Fallow-Deer is the npd'J of 

 Aristotle. Buffon and others are of that opinion ; but M. Camus, who 

 seems very well disposed to coincide with such opinion if he could, 

 gives good reasons for doubt. Pennant considers the Platyeerata of 

 Pliny (book xi. c. 37), and the Euryeerata of Oppian (' Cyneg.' lib. ii., 

 lin. 293), to have been our Fallow-Deer. 



Pennant, speaking of the two varieties, the spotted and the deep- 

 brown, says, on the authority of Collinson, that they were introduced 

 into this country by James I. from Norway, where he passed some 

 time when he visited his intended bride, Anne of Denmark ; and he 

 remarks (citing Llywd), that one of the Welsh names of the animal, 





JL 



Fullow-Dccr (Dama 



Oeifr Danya, or Danish Goat, implies that it was brought from some 

 of thu Danish dominions. James, who observed their hardineos, 

 brought them first into Scotland and thence to Eufield Chace and 

 K|>|iiug, to be near his favourite palace, Theobalds. When Pennant 

 wrote, they were, according to him, scarcely known in France, but 



were sometimes found in the north of Europe. In Spain, he observes, 

 thf y are extremely large ; and that they are met with in Greece, the 

 Holy Laud, and in China. For the two latter localities he quotes 

 Hasselquist, who says he saw it in Mount Thabor, and Du Halde. 

 Pennant goes on to state that in every country except our own these 

 deer are in a state of nature unconfined by man ; but they are, and 

 for some time have been, confined in parks on the Continent as they 

 are in England. In Moldavia and Lithuania they are said to be found 

 wild. Cuvier observes that they have become common in all the 

 countries of Europe, and that they appear to have come originally 

 from Barbary. In a note to his last edition of the ' Regne Animal ' 

 he states, that since the publication of the second edition of his 

 ' Osseinens Fossiles ' he had received a wild Fallow-Deer (Daim) 

 which had been killed in the woods to the south of Tunis. 



Besides the varieties above mentioned, there are many others, as is 

 generally the case with reclaimed or half-reclaimed animals. One 

 variety is milk-white. Pennant remarks that in the old Welsh laws 

 a Fallow-Deer was valued at the price of a cow, or, as some say, a he- 

 goat. This species is represented on the sculptures of Nineveh. 



10. Panolia Eldii, the Sungnai, is an Indian species, 



11. Xucertus I>uvaucdlii, the Bahrainga, is another Indian species. 

 It is called the Spotted Deer of the Sunderbunds, and Barara Siugha 

 by Hardwicke. It is the Cerru& Elaphoides of Hodgson. It inhabits 

 reedy marshes and the islands of great rivers, never entering the 

 mountains or forests. The tail is short, with no caudal disc and no 

 heavy mane. 



12. Ruea Aristotelii, the Samboo. It is the Cenua Hippdaphus of 

 Ogilby, Cervui unicolor of H. Smith, Cerf de Coromandel of Cuvier, 

 Cen'ut Bengalemii of Schirz, Daim Noir de Bengale of Duvaucell, the 

 Samboo-Deer of Bennett, Cervia hcteroceru* of Hodgson. The last 

 author describes four varieties of this animal. They are natives of 

 various parts of India, and inhabit great forests and the mountains 

 above them. They are not gregarious, and rut and drop their horns 

 in spring. 



13. K. DimarpTu, the Spotted Rusa, Gerver or Gower. Their colour 

 is red-brown. They are confined to the saul-forests in India. 



14. Jt. J/ip]ielaphu, the Mijangau Banjoe. It is the C't-rriu Hi/i/i- 

 tltil'lnu of Cuvier; Cerf Noir du Bengale, ou Hippelaphe, of F. 

 Cuvier; Cerf d'Ean, ou Mejanganbanjoe, of the Malays of Java, 



Mijnngun Banjoe [Oarnu (Itusa] Hipptlaphus), 



Skull of Cervus 



according to Duvaucell ; Rusa, or Roussaitan (Black Stag), of the 

 Javanese and Sumatrans ; Itusa Ilijipdaphua, the Great Ku,;a, of 



