268 



DEER. 



horn oft' in this sport, an .. then made several surprising 

 vertical bounds, but only one drop of blood escaped 

 from his head, and he stole away in a crouching gait 

 under a shed. 



" This species is common in all the warmer parts of 

 the American continent which abound in forests. 

 The mahogany-cutters of Belise often meet with it in 

 the woods. It is very lively, but at the same time a 

 most gentle creature, easily tamed, and very familiar 

 in confinement. We are still, however, in want of 

 information respecting it, and also several others of 

 the forest deer of America, the haunts of which are 

 very difficult to explore." 



Besides the species which have been enumerated, 

 there is an entire group of deer on the American con- 

 tinent which differ altogether in the form of their horns 

 from the deer of the eastern world, as well as from 

 those species which we have described. They are 

 generally styled brockets, from the circumstance of 

 their horns never acquiring any branches, but remain- 

 ing as single dags, similar to the prickets or first horns 

 of the European stag. The deer of this group are 

 mostly of small size and light make ; they are very 

 numerous in some parts of the country ; and as the 

 females very much exceed the males in numbers, it 

 has sometimes been alleged there are species of deer 

 in America the males of which have no horns. This 

 is certainly, not true, but the horns of this group are 

 insignificant as compared with those of most of the 

 genus. The animals themselves are generally below 

 the middle stature of deer ; their nose is pointed, and 

 their muzzle small, consisting of a glandular termina- 

 tion at each side of the nostrils. Their lachrymal 

 sinuses are small, and their colours are generally 

 uniform, the prevailing one being bright reddish 

 brown. They inhabit the thick swarnpy forests, and 

 are found only in the warmer parts of the continent. 

 Several species are mentioned, but we are in want of 

 precise information respecting them. 



THE PITA BROCKET Cervus rufus. This is a 

 very lightly formed and handsome animal. The male 

 or buck is styled Giiaru Pita in Brazil, and it is rather 

 taller than the roebuck of Europe, but more lightly 

 made. The head is very pointed, and the muzzle 

 small, but giving an enlarged appearance at the sides 

 of the nostrils. There is a lachrymal sinus before the 

 eye, and the male has canines ; the horns are always 

 simple with a small burr at base, and the pricket 

 about five inches long ; the body is of a lively red- 

 dish bay, excepting the face and feet, which are red 

 brown ; the lips, chin, surface between the under jaws, 

 under part of the tail, and lower abdomen, are white ; 

 the throat and internal face of the thighs whitish grey ; 

 the tail with the hair is nearly nine inches long, and 

 red bay above ; a circle round the eyes is occasion- 

 ally paler than the rest of the head . the females have 

 the same colours, but are smaller in stature. These 

 animals are found chiefly or entirely on the eastern 

 side of central America, from Honduras to the south- 

 ern extremity of Brazil, along which line the low 

 country is generally very much wooded, and therefore 

 adapted to their habits. They are gregarious, living 

 in large herds, and are almost the only ruminating 

 animals which are so, and at the same time of a 

 strictly forest character. The males are polygamous ; 

 and, as already mentioned, their numbers are few 

 compared with'those of the females. They are much 

 preyed upon by the aguars, and also by the larger 

 species of boa. " 



The APAUA BROCKET Cervus simplicicornis. This 

 is a smaller species than the former, standing only 

 about two feet and a half at the shoulder, and being, 

 as is understood, destitute of canine teeth. The pro- 

 file is remarkably straight, and the horns, which are 

 small and shorter than the ears, are continued in the 

 same line with it. This is a red deer as well as the 

 other, but its colour is brighter, its tail shorter, and 

 furnished on the under side with longer hair. There 

 is a dark ring round each eye, and the mouth is dusky. 

 The specimens of this species which have been exa- 

 mined and described in Europe, have been chiefly 

 brought from Brazil, where they are understood to 

 inhabit more on the open plains than the species last 

 described. They appear to vary very considerably 

 in their colours with age, so that there is some uncer- 

 tainty about their natural history. 



The BIRA BROCKET Cervus ncmorivagus. This 

 as its name imports, is a wanderer in the woods. It 

 has sometimes been confounded with the apara, but 

 it ; s a much smaller and more gentle-looking animal. 

 It is only about a foot and a half high at the shoulder. 

 The horns are straight, smooth, solid, and pointed ; 

 rather more than half an inch in diameter, and not 

 exceeding two inches in length. The tip of the ear 

 is rounded, and the lachrymal sinus is very small. 

 General colour on the upper part greyish brown, the 

 hair being brown, with yellowish white points. The 

 lips, the chin, and the middle of the breast are white ; 

 the belly, the whole of the fore-legs, with the excep- 

 tion of the outside of the knees, and a space round 

 the eye are buff coloured, the outsides of the hind legs 

 are fawn ; the animals are remarkable for the gentle- 

 ness of their appearance. 



The species of which we have given an enumera- 

 tion comprise at least the greater number of living 

 deer which now inhabit the earth, though it is by no 

 means improbable that in America, both North and 

 South, in the central mountains of Asia, and in the 

 Oriental isles there may be species with which we are 

 not acquainted, and it is possible that some of those 

 which are now described as species may be only acci- 

 dental varieties ; for most species, and particularly 

 those of the warmer climates, are subject to albinoisrn, 

 and also to occasional differences in the forms of 

 the horns. 



There is no genus of animals more interesting to 

 the naturalist, in every point of view, than the deer. 

 With the exception of Africa and New Holland, they 

 are found upon every large portion of land on the 

 surface of our globe ; and they appear to have existed 

 coeval with some of the races of animals which are 

 now extinct. They have even a fossil history, to 

 which it is of some consequence to attend ; and for 

 this purpose we shall briefly mention the principal 

 ones whose remains have been found in the earth. 



FOSSIL DEER. The most remarkable of these is 

 probably that which has been so frequently met with 

 in the bogs of Ireland, and which has been styled the 

 IRISH ELK from the form of its horns, though in the 

 rest of its anatomy it approaches more to the charac- 

 ter of a stag. The horns of this fossil species so far 

 resemble those of the elk, that they have large palms 

 which are placed edgeways to the front, and extend 

 wide in a horizontal direction. But they differ in the 

 number and extent of the snags upon the posterior 

 margins of the palms, not being more than eight or 

 ten, while in the mature elk the number is sometimes 

 as many as forty. They differ also in having a brow 



