CHITAL OR SPOTTED DEERSAMBAk 103 



pair of 38 inches is known, resemble those of several kinds of Oriental deer in 

 having normally but three tines aside, both the bez and trez tine of the red 

 deer group being absent. They consequently end in a simple fork, of which, in 

 this particular species, the hinder or outer branch is always considerably laro-er than 

 the other. In the angle between the brow-tine and the beam there are, however, 

 often several small irregular snags, which in most cases are the only abnormal 

 points. The ground-colour of the coat of the chital is a reddish fawn, spotted at 

 all seasons and ages with white all over the body. From the nape to the tip of the 

 rather long pointed tail runs a dark stripe, bordered on each side by one or two 

 rows of white spots along the back, these white spots often joining into a streak 

 on the lower parts of the sides. The chin, the upper part of the throat, the under- 

 pays, the inner sides of the limbs, and lower surface of the tail are pure white, as 

 are the insides of the otherwise brown ears. The uniformly coloured head is 

 brownish, darker on the face than elsewhere, with a black band above the muzzle. 

 Now and then blackish or reddish spotted varieties are met with. The chital stag 

 has no mane, the muzzle is broad, and there are usually no upper tusks, although 

 these have been found in a few does. 



Bushes and trees near water, as well as bamboo-thickets, form the favourite 

 haunts of this beautiful deer, which frequents river- valleys as well as hilly districts, 

 but is never found far away from its drinking-places. Many of its haunts are 

 situated amid the finest scenery of the plains and lower hills, in situations where 

 tall flowering trees stand along the banks of streams, or where clearings of rich 

 grass alternate with clumps of bamboos. In such places may be seen at all seasons 

 herds of several hundred, for the chital is a gregarious species. It is, moreover, by 

 no means exclusively nocturnal, and may often be seen grazing three or four hours after 

 sunrise, while it is abroad again an hour or two before sunset. In the daytime it rests 

 in deep shade, grazing or browsing, and it generally drinks between eight and ten 

 in the morning, although at different hours in different seasons. Chital have no 

 objection to going into water, and swim well. How long the does carry their 

 young is not definitely ascertained, some say eight months, others six. The pairing- 

 time seems to be irregular; it is commonly said to begin in September, and, in 

 northern India, in the cold season, but young may be born apparently at any 

 time of the year. In the retention of its white spots throughout the year the 

 chital agrees with several other species of deer inhabiting tropical countries ; and 

 thereby differs from species like the fallow deer and the Japanese deer, which lose 

 their spots in winter, when, owing to the absence of leaves from the trees, there is 

 no need for a colouring of this type. 



The largest Indian deer, the sambar (C. unicolor), the woodland 

 deer of south-eastern Asia, is spread widely over India, and occurs 

 wherever undulating or mountainous country is covered with forests. In the 

 Himalaya it is found up to the height of 10,000 feet, and in southern India and 

 Ceylon is common even on the tops of the mountains. Unlike the chital, it is rare 

 in the river-valleys but, like the former, is absent from the Punjab, Sind, and 

 western Rajputana, where the deserts or semi-deserts are unsuited to the habits of 

 deer of all kinds. 



The sambar attains a shoulder-height of 4 feet, and a length of 7 feet 6' inches, 



