RUCERVUS DUVAUCELLII. 255 



not far from Seonee, and it is tolerably abundant in the open forest land 

 between Mundlah and Omerkuntak, at the source of the Nerbudda. To 

 the east of this forest tract it has been killed near Midnapore, and in the 

 highlands of Goomsoor ; but does not, as far as is known, extend so far' 

 west as the road between Mirzapore and Jubbulpore. It is very gregarious, 

 being often found in large flocks feeding in plains near the forests, and 

 when pursued often keeping in a close pack till they gain the shelter of the 

 forest. A writer in the Indian Sporting Review thus speaks of these deer 

 as he saw them in Central India : "The plain stretched away in gentle 

 undulations towards the river, distant about a mile, and on it were three 

 large herds of barasinghas feeding at one time : the nearest was not more 

 than five hundred yards away from where I stood : there must have been 

 at least fifty of them, stags, hinds, and fawns, feeding together in a lump, 

 and outside the herd grazed three most enormous stags. . . . Then the 

 herd went off in earnest, showing a perfect forest of antlers, and the 

 clatter of their hoofs on the hard ground was like the sound of a squadron 

 of cavalry going to water."* According to Hodgson, it never enters the 

 mountains of the Himalayas, nor even habitually frequents the depths 

 of the forests. His lair is on the skirts of large forests, amidst swampy 

 and grassy glades. It is found sparingly in the forests of the Dehra and 

 Kyarda Doons, and here it is occasionally found on the low hills as well 

 as on the valleys. I have seen it in Dehra ])oon in long grass, and in 

 forest in the Kyarda Doon. It is said to be exceedingly numerous in 

 Assam, enormous herds occurring in the grassy churrs of rivers. It is 

 stated to feed both on grass and on the bark and young shoots of trees. 



The name Maha, sometimes applied to this deer, is also given to the 

 Samber stag, and it is occasionally called Jhdnk, a name usually applied 

 to the male spotted deer. This deer is now living in the Zoological 

 Society's Gardens, London, and has bred there. 



A remarkable deer, that approaches the last in size and some of its 

 characters, is the Panolia Eedii, Guthrie, Blyth's Cat. 486, the Cervus 

 frontalis, McClelland, and C. dimorpha, Hodgson, the Burmese or brow- 

 antlered deer. Gray, in his Catalogue of Hodgson's Collection, gives both 

 Panolia JEedii and Rusa dimorpha, from Nepal, as distinct species. The 

 basal antler is directed forwards, and is very long, and the horns are 

 very divergent, with fewer terminal branches than the last. It is found in 

 Munnipore, where it is called Sung-nai or Siny-nai, and thence southwards 



* Indian Sporting Eeview, vol. XVIU., p. 49. 



