362 HOOFED ANIMALS 



ASIATIC DEER. 



AXIS DEER (Cervus axis). 



Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 2. 



The Axis, or Spotted Deer, of India and Ceylon, about the 

 size of the Fallow Deer, though varying somewhat in 

 colour in different regions, is generally a rich golden brown, 

 with a dark stripe along the back and a white streak across 

 the haunches. The chief feature of the animal's coat are 

 the large white spots, arranged in almost longitudinal lines, 

 making the Axis, or Chital, as it is called, one of the most 

 beautiful of the Deer tribe. 



One might suppose this spotted coat would make the 

 Chital a conspicuous mark for the hunter. The opposite, 

 however, is the case ; for the covering harmonises with 

 dead vegetation and the flecks of sunlight passing through 

 the dense foliage. The three-tined antlers often exceed 

 three feet in length. 



The Axis Deer breeds naturally in October, but in English 

 and French parks, into which the animal has been success- 

 fully introduced, the birth of a fawn at such a time would 

 expose the young animal to the severe weather of winter. 

 It is a singular provision of nature that the acclimatised 

 animals do not give birth to their young until June that 

 is, about the same time as the Deer among which they 

 have been introduced. 



SAMBAR (Cervus unicolor). 

 Plate XXXVIII. Fig. i. 



The Sambar, or Gerow, is the largest of the Rusine group 

 of Deer, the antlers of which consist of a brow tine and 

 a simple bifurcation of the beam. It is a woodland animal 

 that is widely distributed in India and the south-east of Asia. 

 The finest representative of a number of similar animals, 

 the Sambar is the largest of the true Deer, outside the 

 Elaphine group, of which the Red Deer is the most con- 



