Deer. 1 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



135 



wandered at large over the face of the countiy." 

 The following are a few points of its admeasure- 

 ment : — 



ft. in. 



Length of the head . 1 fff 



Breaiith between the orliits lOi 



Distance between the tins of the horns, meajured ) , , , „ 



by the skull /ll '" 



Ditto, in a straight line across 9 2 



Length of each horn ,59 



Greatest breadth ol'palm 2 9 



Circumference of the beam at the root of the> , „, 



brow-antler | * *^f 



Length of spine 10 ]0 



Height to t!ie top of the back 6 6 



Ditto, to the highest point of the tip of the horn 10 4 



None of the deer tribe of the present day, ex- 

 cepting the Scandinavian Elk, can at all be com- 

 pared for magnitude to this fossil species ; and, 

 until Cuvier pointed out the differences, the antlers 

 were generally regarded as identical with those of 

 that animal or of the moose of Norih America. 

 Independently of size, however, they differ in many 

 essential points: for example, in the moose-deer 

 the horn has two palms, a lesser one growing for- 

 ward from the front of the beam where the prin- 

 cipal palm begins to expand : the palm of the 

 moose-deer's horn is directed backwards, and is 

 broadest next the beam. (Fig. 607.) In the fossil- 

 animal the palm increases in breadth as it pro- 

 ceeds, which it does in a lateral direction ; nor are 

 there fewer differential characters in the skull and 

 general skeleton. 



Of the habits of the Cervus megaceros we can 

 only form a conjecture. The size and lateral di- 

 rection of its spreading antlers must have prevented 

 its inhabiting the dense forest — it must have dwelt 

 on the heath-clad hills: there, armed with the 

 most powerful weapons of self-defence, it ranged 

 secure from the assault of any single aggressor, 

 capable of dashing down the wolf or hysena with 

 a blow. Did man exist coeval with this animal in 

 its native land ? Most probably— yes. A head of 

 the fossil elk, together with several urns and stone 

 hatchets, was discovered in Germany in the same 

 drain. " In the ' Archaeologia Britanica ' is a letter 

 of the Countess of Moira, giving an account of a 

 human body in gravel under eleven feet of peat, 

 soaked in the bog-water : it was in good preserva- 

 tion, and completely clothed in antique garments 

 of hair," conjectured to be that of the fossil elk. 

 But what is still more conclusive, there exists a rib 

 in the Royal Dublin Society, evidently bearing 

 token of having been wounded by some sharp in- 

 strument, which remained long fixed in the wound, 

 but had not penetrated so deep as to destroy the 

 creature's life : it was such a wound as the head of 

 an arrow would produce. 



Of the causes which involved the fossil elk in 

 destruction— whether one general catastrophe uni- 

 versally affected the whole race wherever existing 

 — whether local causes, operating at different epochs, 

 have successively extinguished the species, which 

 might have lingered the longest in Ireland— or 

 whether its extermination has been effected by the 

 hand of man, whose agency upon the animal crea- 

 tion IS everywhere apparent, no decided opinion 

 can yet be given. We know it existed, and that is 

 all : Its history and its fate are buried beneath the 

 shadow of years gone by. 



Fig. 600 represents a perfect skeleton of this ex- 

 tinct species; Fig. 601. a figure of the skull and 

 horns- ihe brow antler on the right horn is unde- 

 veloped ; Fig 602, a direct front view of the skull : 

 Jig. 603, a palatal view of the skull ; Fig. 604, pro- 

 file of the skull ; Fig. 605, a horn somewhat dif- 

 ferently shaped to the others; Fig. 606, horns of 

 the moose, given by way of comparison. 



4 Elaphiis, or Stag group.— The common stag 

 of Europe, with its allied species the Barbary stag 

 and the Persian stag, the Wapiti of America, and 

 among others the Cervus Elaphoides, Hodgson, and 

 Cervus Wallichii, Cuvier, both natives of Nepal 

 may be adduced as examples of this section. The' 

 characters consist in the form of the horns, which 

 have three antlers produced from the beam, viz 

 the brow-antler, the bez-antler, and the antler- 

 royal, besides the snags, or crown {surroyal), in 

 vvhich the beam terminates; in the nakedness of 

 the muzzle, and in the possession of large suborbital 

 sinuses. The males have canine teeth, and in old 

 animals the brow-antler is often double. A fine 

 specimen of the horns of the wapiti in the museum 

 ol the Zool. Soc. exhibits this luxuriance of growth. 

 (Fig. 607.) 



609, 600a. 610.— The Common Stag, or Red Deer 



(Cenms Elnphm). Carw (Stag), Ewig (Hind), Elain 



Ooung or Calf), of the ancient British; Le Cerf 



^ (?'\?)' '''* "^x^he (Hind), Faon (Young or Calf), of 



m, the \ rench ; Cervio, Cervia, of the Italians ; Ciervo, 



m^ I lerva, of the Spanish ; Cervo, Cerva, of the Portu- 



■ ^^n >.^i■"^ u''^''''' ^•^'''?)' H'"'' (Hind), Hindc 

 m Kalb (Calf,,of the Germans ; Hart (Stag), and Hir.de, 



of the Dutch ; Hjort, Kronhjort (Stag), and Hind, of 

 the Swedes ; Kronhjort, Hind, Kid or Hind Kalv, 

 of the Danes. 



The red-deer is a native of our island and of the 

 temperate portions of Europe, and considerably 

 exceeds the fallow-deer in size, standing about four 

 feet in height at the shoulders. The hi~nd or female 

 is smaller ; the young is spotted with white on the 

 back and sides. During the pairing season, which 

 commences in August, the stags fight desperately 

 with each other, and are even dangerous to persons 

 venturing near their haunts. Formerly the stag 

 was very abundant in the wild hills and in the ex- 

 tensive forests of our island, but the disforesting of 

 vast woodland tracts and the extension of agricul- 

 ture have limited the range of this noble animal to 

 the larger parks and chaces of our country, to the 

 Cheviot Hills, and to the heath-covered mountains 

 of Scotland. Few or none are to be seen in the 

 New Forest, nor in Woolmer Forest, in Hamp- 

 shire, where they were once numerous ; nor do any 

 now remain in Epping Forest. In the central part 

 of the Grampians there are large herds of red-deer: 

 they frequent the southern part of the bleak and, 

 generally speaking, naked ridge of Minigny, which 

 lies between the Glen of Athol on the south and 

 Badenoch on the north ; and between the lofty 

 summits of Ben-yglac on the east, and the pass of 

 Dalnavardoch on the west. The greater part of 

 this ridge is the property of the Duke of Athol, 

 although m.any deer are found on the lands of the 

 Duke of Gordon, and others towards the east. 



The deer are seldom on the summits ; but gene- 

 rally in the glens of the Tilt and Bruar. These 

 deer are often seen in herds of upwards of a thou- 

 sand ; and when, in a track where there is no human 

 abode for twenty or thirty miles, a long line of 

 bucks appear on a height with their branching 

 horns relieved upon a clear mountain sky, the sight 

 is very imposing. 



The forest of Athol, consisting of a hundred thou- 

 sand acres, is devoted to red-deer; they exist in Mar 

 Forest and Glenartney, and in the west districts of 

 Ross and Sutherland. The chace of the red-deer 

 has ever been, from its excitement, a favourite diver- 

 sion—and formerly was conducted in a style of great 

 magnificence, vast herds being driven " with hound 

 and horn " to where the hunters were stationed with 

 guns (formerly bows and arrows), and who dealt 

 havoc among their numbers. The deer moved for- 

 wards in close array, guided by a leader, and often 

 in despair broke through the circle of their foes, and 

 made their escape. We may imagine the danger 

 resulting from the rush of perhaps a thousand deer 

 determined to break through the line of their as- 

 sailants. 



The spirited description of a similar scene in Sir 

 W. Scotfs novel of 'Waverley ' is familiar to all. This 

 mode of driving the deer is now never practised, at 

 least on the great scale. The present plan, that of 

 deer-stalking, is to proceed cautiously within due 

 distance of the herd, and, being concealed, to bring 

 them down with the rifie : when wounded and 

 brought to bay, the stag often rushes on his assailant, 

 whose life is in imminent danger. The red-deer is 

 too well known to require a detailed description. 

 He svyims vigorously, and will cross lakes, and pass 

 from islet to islet at considerable distances apart. 



611. — The Wapiti. 



(Cervus Wapiti, MitcheW). C.strongyloceros, Schre- 

 ber ; C. Canadensis, Briss. ; American Elk, Bewick ; 

 Waskeesews of Hutchins ; Wawaskeesho, Awaskees, 

 and Moostosh of the Cree Indians. The Wapiti 

 has been confounded with the Elk, this name being 

 given to it in Lewis and Clark's Voyages. It is 

 the Red-deer of the Hudson's Bay traders. 



This American representative of our European 

 stag differs from the latter, in being much larger 

 and more powerful, and also of a darker colour; his 

 form is more heavy, and the limbs more robust ; 

 the neck is of vast thickness and strength. 



The wapiti does not extend its range higher north 

 than the fifty-seventh parallel of latitude, nor is it 

 found to the eastward of a line drawn from the north 

 end of Lake Winepeg in long 103°, and from thence 

 till it strikes the Elk River in the hundred and ele- 

 venth degree. It is common among the clumps of 

 wood that skirt the plains of the Saskatchewan, where 

 it lives in small herds of six or seven individuals. 

 They feed, says Dr. Richardson, on grass, on the 

 young shoots of willows and poplars, and are very 

 Ibnd of the hips of the Rosa blanda, which forms 

 much of the underwood of the districts which they 

 frequent. Their voice is a shrill whistling, quivering 

 noise, nothing resembling the "bell" of our stag. 

 Hearne considers the wapiti as more stupid than 

 any other species of the deer tribe. 



The horns of this species (Fig. 607) attain to a vast 

 size and weight (53 or 54 lbs. the pair), and are most 

 foimidiible weapons; nor is the male thus armed 

 to be approached without caution ; his temper being 

 vicious and irascible, and his strength prodigious. 



A few years since, one of the male wapitis in the 

 gardens of the Zoological Society, London, in a fit 

 of rage drove his biow-antlers into the body of a fe- 

 male of the same species, lifted her up, and threw 

 her down dead. 



The male wapiti stand upwards of four feet »nd 

 a half at the shoulders. The general colour is yel- 

 lowish brown, a black mark extending from the 

 angle of the mouth along the lower jaw ; the tail is 

 short and encircled (as in the red-deer and others of 

 this section) by a pale yellowish haunch-mark. 



5. RusA. — This group consists of deer peculiar 

 to India, several species being large and formi- 

 dable. The horns are rugged and cylindrical, with 

 a large sharp brow-antler, but no bez-antler. the 

 beam bifurcating at the top into a sharp anterior 

 and posterior snag: the muzzle is broad and naked, 

 the suborbital sinuses are deep and large, and the 

 males possess canine teeth ; a mane of long coarse 

 hairs runs down the neck. Of six or seven species 

 belonging to this section, we may notice the 

 Sambur. 



612. — The Sambur 

 (Cervus Hippelaplms). Several specimens of this 

 deer are in the gardens of the Zoological Society, 

 London; and the males when armed with their 

 antlers are noted for their vicious temper. In 

 size the male sambur exceeds our common slag, 

 but is inferior to the huge and heavy wapiti : and if 

 less powerful, is more active and alert. The hair 

 is close, harsh, and of a dusky or greyish brown : a 

 band of black surrounds the muzzle, but the edges 

 of the upper tip and the tip of the under are white ; 

 the hairs of the throat are long and bristly, forming 

 a full fringe ; a mane of similar hair runs along the 

 back of the neck : the crupper-mark round the tail 

 IS very circumscribed, and yellowish. The sambur 

 IS found in the Ghauts of Dukhun, in Kandesh, and 

 the lower hills of Nepal. It occurs also in other 

 districts of India. In common with the rest of the 

 Rusa tribe it is fond of the water, and resides in 

 wooded situations. 



Another species of this section is the the Cervus 

 Ari-stotehs, Cuvier. a native of Bengal and the low 

 hills of Nepal. It is termed elk by the British 

 sjiortsman. and is said to be extremely powerful 

 and vicious. Mr. Hodgson notices a black deer in 

 the Nepal hills belonging to the Rusa tribe, but 

 undescribed. (' Zool. Proceeds.' 1834, p. 99.) 



Of the other species to be referred to this group, 

 and described by various authors, we may mention 

 the Cervus equinus, Cuvier, found in Sumatra and 

 the lower hills of Nepal ; the C. unicolor, Smith, 

 a native of the dense forests of Ceylon ; the C. 

 Peionii, Cuvier, and the C. Maiiannus, Quoy and 

 Gaimard— the former a native of Timor, the latter of 

 the Marianne Islands, or Ladrones. 



Mr. Hodgson observes that a new species of deer, 

 to which he has given the name of C. Bahrainja, 

 serves, with C. Wallichii, to connect the Elaphine 

 and Rusan groups. Fig. 613 represents the skull of 

 the sambur-deer. 



6. Axis.— The characters of this section differ 

 but little from those of Rusa; the horns have a 

 brow-antler, and bifurcate at the top; the subor- 

 tiital sinuses are moderate, and the males are des- 

 titute of canines. It is, however, in size, contour, 

 and disposition that the greatest contrast exists be- 

 tween the Axine and Rusan groups. In the Axine 

 group the limbs are delicate, the general form is 

 more graceful than robust, and none in size much 

 exceed our fallow-deer, to which the common axis 

 especially (excepting as respects the antlers) bears 

 a near resemblance ; the females, indeed, of both 

 species being, on a superficial view, scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable. The hair is short, smooth, and close ; 

 the expression of the physiognomy is gentle, yet 

 animated, and agrees with the disposition. In cap- 

 tivity these deer are quiet and inoffensive. 



614. — The Axis Deer 

 {Cervus Axis. Erxl.). The spotted axis is, perhaps, 

 the best known of all the Indian deer ; it thrives 

 well not only in our menageries, but even in paiks. 

 and bleeds in our climate. It is very abundant on 

 the banks of the Ganges and in Bengal, as well as 

 in the larger islands of the Indian Archipelago, 

 where it lives in herds, the luxuriant veiretation of 

 the jungles (its favourite localities) affording abund- 

 ance of food. The general colour of this species is 

 fawn-yellow, a black stripe running down the spine 

 of the back ; the sides are beautifully and regu- 

 larly spotted with white ; a row forming an almost 

 continuous line passes along each side of the belly. 

 The hog-deer (C. Porcinus) is another species 

 belonging to this section : it is lower on the Hmbs 

 and stouter in the body than the spotted axis : its 

 colour is yellowish grey, spotted slightly on the 

 back and flanks. 



A new species from the Ganges is described by 

 Mr. Ogilby in the 'Zool. Proceeds.' 1831, p. 136, 

 under the title of C. Nudipalpebra. A specimen 

 exists in the museum of the Zoological Society. 



