861 



CERVID^E. 



CERVIDJE. 



863 



supply of nourishment; their surface is covered with long grass 

 (Saccharum spicatnm), well known to persons who have visited the 

 interior of Java by the name of Allang-Allang, and the groves 

 and thickets abound with Pltyllanthus EmMica, Linn. : these two 

 plants constitute its principal food. They also produce many species 

 of Hibiscus, d'rewia, Urena, and other malvaceous plants, all of which 

 are greedily eaten by the Kijang. . . . The Kijang is impatient 

 of confinement, and is not fitted for the same degree of domestication 

 as the stag. It is however occasionally found in the iuclosure of natives 

 and Europeans, but requires a considerable range to live comfortably : it 

 is cleanly in its habits, and delicate in its choice of food. The flesh 

 affords an excellent venison, which is often found on the tables of 

 Europeans. The natives eat the males, and always present them 

 in a conspicuous place in their feasts ; but in consequeuce of some 

 peculiarities in the habits of the females, they have an aversion to 

 them as food." 



23. C. moschatui, the Kegan or Kakr. It is the Cen-tis Moschu* of 

 Desmarest, C. Ratica and Stylocero* Ratwa of Hodgson, Pi-ox Ratw a of 

 Sundevall, P. (Mipe of Wagner, P. slyloceros of Wagner, the Musk- 

 Deer of Nepaul ; the Jungle Sheep. 



It is of a bright reddish-yellow colour, with tha chin and gullet 

 whitish. The hair is not ringed as in the following species. 



The Ratwa are natives of India, where they live in forests, in the 

 mountains, or at their bases. They live six or eight together. The 

 horns fall in May. The females have bristly tufts ending in a knot 

 instead of a horn. 



24. C. Reeresii, the Chinese Muntjak, is of a grayish-brown colour, 

 with short pale ringed hair. It is a native of China. Dr. J. E. Gray 

 says ('Brit. Mus. Cat.') : " The Earl of Derby has these three kinds 

 (the three last species) at Knowsley, but they breed together, and it 

 has hence become impossible to discriminate the males from the 

 original species." 



25. C'apreolut Capnea, the Roe-Buck. This animal is probably the 

 Aopxas of Aristotle ; lorca and Dorcat of Oppian ; Caprea of Pliny 

 (xi. 37); Caprea, Capreolut, Hot-cat, of Gesner; Caprcolus of Ray 

 and of Sibbald ; C'ct-itts C'apreolus of Linnxus ; C!. minimus of Klein; 

 Iwrch (male), lyrchell (female), of the ancient British; Le Chevreuil 

 of the French ; Capriolo of the Italians ; Zorlito, Cabronzillo Monies, 

 of the Spanish ; Cabra Monies of the Portuguese ; Rehbock (male), 

 Rehgees, of the Germans ; Radiur, Rabock, of the Swedes ; Raacdijr, 

 Raaebuk, of the Danes. 



Its length is about 3 feet 9 inches ; height before about 2 funt 

 3 inches; behind, 2 feet 7 inches. Weight from about 50 to 60 Ibs. 

 Length of horns from 8 to 9 inches ; they are erect, round, and 

 divided into three branches above ; their lower part is deeply 

 furrowed longitudinally. Those of a young buck in its second year 

 are simple; in the third year a branch appears ; the head is complete 

 in the fourth year. In the winter the hair on the body is long, the 

 lower part of each hair is ash-coloured, there is a narrow bar of black 

 near the end, and the tip is yellow. On the face the hair is blank 

 tipped with yellow. The ears are long, of a pale yellow on the 

 inside, and covered with long hair. In summer the coat is short and 

 smooth, and of a bright reddish colour. The chest, belly, legs, and 

 inside of the thighs, are yellowish-white ; the rump is pure white, 

 and the tail very short. On the outside of the hind leg*, below thy 

 joint, is a tuft of long hair. 



" The Roe-Buck was formerly very common in Wales, in the north 

 of England, and in Scotland, but at present the species no longer 

 exists in any part of Great Britain, except in the Scottish Highlands." 

 Such is the locality given by Pennant when he wrote ; and he adds 

 that, according to Dr. Mouffett, it was found in Wales as late as the 

 reign of Queen Elizabeth, and in great plenty in the Cheviot Hills, 

 according to Leland, in that of Henry the VIII. That at one time 

 the Roe inhabited the southern parts of the kingdom is clear, if the 

 information given to the editor of the last edition of the ' British 

 Zoology ' is correct, for that states the discovery of seven or eight 

 horns of the Roe in the peat beds near Romsey, in Hampshire, 

 together with the complete head of a beaver, with the teeth entire. 

 In Ireland the animal is nut known. They are frequent hi France, 

 and are found in Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Siberia. Pennant, 

 who gives these localities, says that the first that are met with in 

 Great Britain are in the woods on the south side of Loch Rannoch, 

 in Perthshire; the last in those of Langwal, in Caithness ; bu.t that 

 they are most numerous in the beautiful forests of Invercauld, in the 

 midst of the Gr.unpiana. They are still comparatively plentiful in 

 Scotland. Sir James Carnegie had a battue, in which forty were 

 killed. Sir William Jardine states, that south of the Forth they 

 are now very rare, one or two wilder parks only possessing a few ; 

 but frequent traces of their former abundance are found in the 

 bordercounties, remains and skeletons being almost yearly disinterred 

 from most of the larger peat mosses. The same author speaks of 

 its frequency in many European countries, Germany, Silesia, Ac. 

 f Naturalist's Library,' Mammalia, vol. iii.) 



The Roe does not keep in herds, but only congregates in families in 

 the lower coverts and less wild woods. The female goes with young 

 five mouths, and produces two fawns at a birth, and these she con- 

 ceals from the buck. They are said to live twelve or fifteen years, 

 and to be able to reproduce the species at the age of eighteen months. 



Pennant observes that it is a tender animal, and quotes Buffon, who 

 says that in the hard winter of 1709 the breed was almost extinguished 

 in Burgundy, and many years passed before it was restored again. It 

 is generally killed either in the covert or by the sportsman, who 

 waits outside while the copse or wood is driven with shot. It falls 

 very readily, and often without being apparently severely struck ; 

 we have heard instances of their being knocked over with com- 

 paratively small shot. As soon as it is down the throat is cut, and 

 the animal is hung up by the hind legs on the fork of some tree 

 to bleed. 



M\\\\' 



Hoc-Buck (Caprcolus Dorcas}. 



Herbage and tender shoots of underwood are the food of the Roe 

 in the summer. They are said to be very fond of tho Rubua sa-catilis, 

 called in the Highlands the Roe-Buck Berry. In winter, when the 

 ground is covered with snow, they browse on the tender branches of 

 the fir and the birch. (Pennant.) 



The flesh is delicate food when well killed, and the horns are used 

 for handles of carving-knives, Ac. 



Pennant states that in the old Welsh laws a roo-buck was valued at 

 the same price as a she-goat. 



26. C'. Pi/yargiu, the Ahu. It is tho Cei-ria Pyyargits of Pallas, 

 Cerrut A/iu of Griffith, the Siaga of the Tartars, Dikaja Kosa of the 

 Russians, Tailless Roe and Tailless Deer of Pennant and Shaw. It 

 is a native of Central Asia. 



27. Blaslocerus paludvtus, the Qmzupuco. It is the Cervm Mexi- 

 eanus of Goldfuss, C'. dichotomm of Illiger. It is a native of South 

 America. 



28. . campestrii, the Mazame or Guazuti. It is the Cervus bezoar- 

 tictts of Linnaeus, C. cainpextrisof F. Cuvier, C. leucogayfcr of Goldfu.ss, 

 the Biche de Pampas of Cuvier. It is a native of South America 

 in Northern Patagonia. It is exceedingly abundant, in small herds, 

 throughout the countries bordering the Plata. Mr. Darwin describes 

 the odour of the buck as quite overpowering, from its disagreeable 

 character. 



29. Furctfer Antitieiuis, the Tarush or Taruga, is a native of South 

 America, in the Bolivian Alps. 



30. F. Huamcl, the Guemul. It is the Auchenia Ilimmcl of H. 

 Smith, the Camelas Equinua of Leuckart, C'erveciu Andicua of Lesson, 

 the Cloven-Footed Horse of Shaw. It is a native of the east coast 

 of South America. 



31. Cariocut Viryinianui, the American Deer. It is the Damn 

 1 '/;<;/,, uma of Ray, Ccrrui Viryinianus of Gmelin, C. 8'rongyloceroi 



of Schreber, the Virginian and Mexican Deer of Pennant, the Cerf 

 de la Louisiane of Cuvier, the Cariacou of Buffbn. The tail of this 

 animal, like the rest of its body, is fulvous, above the tip it is black, 

 but beneath white, and is carried erect when running. They inhabit 

 the Oregon, and are found to be most numerous near the coast of tho 

 Pacific Ocean. Their range on that coast is up to 15 N. latitude. 

 At the Umqua, in latitude 4:> 1l'.> y five place to the Black-Tailed 

 Deer. " We believe that the same species of dcc'r inhabits all the 

 timbered or partially timbered country between the coast of tho 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans." (Gray.) 



32. C. Me^ricanits, the Mexican Deer. Tail fulvous gray. Not well 

 known. Inhabits Mexico. 



33. C. leucunu, the White-Tailed Deer. It is the Cenus leucurus 

 of Douglass, C. campatrix of F. Cuvier. Various writers on America 

 have called it by the following names : Roe-Buck (Dobbs), the Fallow 

 or Virginian Deer (Cook's Third Voyage) ; the Long-Tailed Jumping 

 Deer (Umfreville) ; Deer with small horns and long tail (Gass.) ; Long- 

 Tailed Red Deer, Small Deer of Pacific, Common lied Deer, and 

 Common Fallow-Deer with long tails (Lewis and Clark); Jumping 

 Deer (Hudson's Bay Traders); Chevreuil (Canadian Voyageurs); 

 Mowitch (Cree Indians). 



