CHAPTER XIV 



SPOTTED DEER 



THE spotted deer (Cervus axis\ the cheetul of India, is 

 generally considered to be the most beautiful and most 

 graceful, both in form and colour, of all the deer tribe, 

 and it certainly would be difficult to find an animal more 

 elegant, or one which gives a greater impression of graceful- 

 ness, lightness, and activity. 



In height the Ceylon males stand from 34 to 38 inches 

 or more at the shoulder. I have never weighed a buck, 

 though I have more than once helped to carry one slung 

 on a pole, and I know a good buck forms a very full load 

 for two men. Sir Samuel Baker puts the weight at 

 250 Ibs. live weight, and Mr. Alfred Clark says 20 stone 

 both may be right as far as I know. The females are 

 somewhat smaller than the males. 



The horns in Ceylon are generally much smaller than 

 those of India, the Indian record being 38^ inches, and 

 of Ceylon, 34^- inches (vide Alfred Clark's "Sport in the 

 Low Country of Ceylon"), but any head over 30 inches 

 is exceptionally good for Ceylon, where five out of six 

 heads do not measure more than 14 to 18 inches. The 

 horns are three-tined, and, in a good head, are set to a very 

 graceful sweep and curve, being comparatively light and 

 slender-looking. Antlers are, I believe, shed yearly, but 

 at no regular season, for I have met with bucks in velvet 

 in almost or quite every month in the year. 



Colour in both sexes, at all ages and seasons, is a 



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