544 



CERV1DJE. 



Dimensions. Height at shoulder of males 4b to oG incaes, and 

 it is said even more ; length 6 to 7 feet, tail 12 to 13 inches ears 

 7 to 8. Females are smaller. A male skull measures in basal 

 length 14-2 inches, extreme length 157, orbital breadth 6-7. A 

 very large stag killed in Cooch Behar is said to have weighed 

 700 Ibs (51 stone), smaller but still fine male animals about 560 

 ('Asian,' April 3rd, 1891, p. 3). Horns vary enormously ; any 

 over 35 inches in length are of good size, and such are seldom, it 



Fig. 177. Skull aiid horns of C'enms unicolor. (From Forsyth.) 



ever, seen out of India. The largest recorded measured 48 inches, 

 but the girth at mid-beam was only 6 ; horns 35-5 and 38 inches 

 in length have been found to have a girth of 8*25 inches halfway 

 up the beam, and 8-5 has been measured in horns 41 inches 

 long. 



Distribution. Almost throughout the Oriental region wherever 

 there is undulating ground or hilly country with forest, but the 

 forms in some of the Malay Islands appear to be specifically 

 distinct. The sambar ascends the Himalayas in places to 9000 



