THE DEER OF INDIA 



up an incessant hoarse bark, until he has either 

 been able to determine its nature and locality 

 whereupon he seeks safety in flight, or has decided 

 that no further reason for fear exists, in which case 

 he relapses into silence. Generally speaking, the 

 barking is due to the animals having obtained a 

 hint of the presence of man, but occasionally it 

 is caused by the proximity of a beast of prey. 

 Colonel Ward mentions the good service done 

 him by one of these animals, to whom he was 

 indebted for the location of a man-eating tiger 

 which the Colonel duly bagged. 



This deer is found at very low elevations, and 

 also up to (according to the same author) a height 

 of about 7000 feet in the Himalayas. In Southern 

 India it is found in the low-country jungles and 

 also on the hills, and although the lighter belt of 

 forest outside the state reserves is its proper home, 

 it is also common in the latter. I have frequently 

 shot the muntjac when walking through the forests 

 quietly in search of other game (still-hunting), and 

 have also been out beating for it upon the Neil- 

 gherry hills. 



Colonel Ward, out of sixty specimens shot by 

 him, obtained two, whose horns, clear of the 

 pedicles, measured 7^ inches in each case. These 

 are very exceptional heads, and were bagged one 

 in the Kotli Dun, and the other near Mussoorie. 

 A head of 5 inches is a good one. I have always 

 shot muntjac with a '500 express rifle (the smallest 

 weapon which I ever took out in the forest), but 

 a smaller bore would be preferable for use upon 



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