INDIAN SHOOTING 



267 



side by side. Sterndale says that in Schomburgk's deer the 

 tres and royal tines are^equal, whilst in the swamp deer the trbs 

 tine is longer than the royal 



In the high grass of the Terai and Assam, swamp deer are 

 generally shot off elephants, but in some parts of Central India 

 the ground is open enough to permit of their being stalked. 

 Forsyth gives a capital account of the sport he enjoyed while 

 hunting them in the Sal forests of Central India. Swamp deer 

 are gregarious, and Jerdon quotes from an article in ' The Indian 

 Sporting Review ' a case of three large herds being seen on one 



Rucervus Schomburgkii 



plain. The general colour of the beast is a light yellowish red, 



paler in the winter than in the summer ; the under parts and 



below the tail are white. The hinds' are lighter coloured than 



ne stags, and the fawns are spotted. The stags appear to 



hed their horns about March or April, as, Forsyth says, they 



:ose the velvet at the close of the rainy season ; he also says 



that they shed their horns more regularly than the Rustnce. 



The following quotation from his charming book gives an 



xcellent account of their habits : 



This animal has been called in North-Eastern India the ' swamp 

 deer,' out here (Central India) he is not observed to be particularly 



