THE SAL FOKESTS. 381 



deer, and almost the same as the red deer of Scotland. In 

 colour it is a reddish brown during the cold season, passing 

 through a bright rufous chestnut in spring to a rich golden 

 red in summer. The antlers are very handsome, and diffe- 

 rently shaped from those of any other deer in the world. 

 They have but one basal tine over the forehead, no median 

 tines at all, and all the other branches arranged at the 

 summit of the beam. Here they show a tendency to 

 approach the Eusine type, to which belong the sambar and 

 the axis, the beam being first divided into a terminal fork, 

 each branch of which afterwards splits into several points. 

 Usually the outward or anterior branch bears three such 

 points, and the inward or posterior two, making, with the 

 brow-antler, six points on each horn. Very old stags some- 

 times have more ; but, as in the Rusince, when there are 

 more than three the extra ones are abnormal monstrosities, 

 and the antlers are usually unsymmetrical and stunted in 

 size. The horns are greyish in colour, and of a smoother 

 surface than those of the sambar. They are not nearly so 

 massive, nor so long, but have a very handsome outward 

 sweep, which renders them, I think, more effective as a 

 trophy for the deerstalker. They are very difficult to pro- 

 cure fully developed and perfect. They are cast more regu- 

 larly, I think, than those of the Rusince ; and as the stags 

 seem to be very combative, some of the points are usually 

 broken off soon after they lose the velvet at the close of the 

 rainy season, when their haunts first become accessible to the 

 sportsman. In form the Rucervus is one of the most beauti- 

 ful of the family, lightly and gracefully made, and with a 

 stately carriage ; and altogether, with his splendid golden 

 colour and finely shaped antlers, this stag is not surpassed, I 

 think, in appearance by any member of the deer tribe. 



