CERVID& 317 



Cervulus of Blainville and most zoologists ; Styloceros of Hamilton- 

 Smith, and Prox of Ogilby. They are all of small size compared 

 with the majority of Deer, and have long bodies and rather short 

 limbs and neck. The antlers, which as in most Deer are present in 

 the male only, are small and simple, and the main stem or beam, 

 after giving off a very short brow tine, inclines backwards and up- 

 wards, is unbranched and pointed, and when fully developed curves 

 inwards and somewhat downwards at the tip. These small antlers 

 are supported upon pedicles or permanent processes of the frontal 

 bones, longer than in any other Deer, and the front edges of which 

 are continued downwards as strong ridges passing along the sides of 

 the face above the orbits, and serving to protect the large supra- 

 orbital glands lying on their inner sides. The lachrymal fossa of 

 the skull, in which is lodged the large suborbital gland or crumen, 

 is of great depth and extent. The upper canine teeth of the males 

 are strongly developed and sharp, curving downwards, backwards, 

 and outwards, projecting visibly outside the mouth as tusks, and 

 loosely implanted in their sockets. In the females they are very 

 much smaller. The limbs exhibit several structural peculiarities not 

 found in other Deer. The lateral digits of both fore and hind feet are 

 very little developed, the hoofs alone being present and their bony 

 supports (found in all other Deer) wanting. There is a tufted gland 

 on the outer side of the metatarsus. 



The Muntjacs are solitary animals, very rarely even two being 

 seen together. They are fond of hilly ground covered with forests, 

 in the dense thickets of which they pass most of their time, only 

 coming to the skirts of the woods at morning and evening to 

 graze. They carry the head and neck low and the hind-quarters 

 high, their action in running being peculiar and not very elegant, 

 somewhat resembling the pace of a sheep. Though with no 

 power of sustained speed or extensive leap, they are remarkable 

 for flexibility of body and facility of creeping through tangled 

 underwood. They are often called by Indian sportsmen " Barking 

 Deer," a name given on account of their alarm cry, a kind of 

 short shrill bark, like that of a fox but louder, which may often 

 be heard in the jungles they frequent both by day and by night. 

 When attacked by dogs the males use their sharp canine teeth 

 with great vigour, inflicting upon their opponents deep and even 

 dangerous wounds. 



There is some difference of opinion among zoologists as to the 

 number of species of the genus Cervulus. Sir Victor Brooke, who 

 investigated this question in 1878 (see Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London for that year, p. 898), came to the conclusion that 

 there are certainly three which are quite well marked, viz. 



C. muntjac (Fig. 126), found in British India, Burma, the Malay 

 Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Hainan, Banca, and Borneo. The general 



