io4 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



the tail measuring about a foot. This is the size of stags, but hinds are somewhat 

 smaller. In countries beyond India proper the antlers of sambar seldom grow- 

 longer than 35 inches, and one of the largest known pairs has a length of 48 inches. 

 Fully developed antlers have only the usual three tines of this group of deer, and 

 they are less subject to irregularities than those of most other Oriental species. 

 The brow-tine forms an acute angle with the beam, and the two tines of the 

 terminal fork are generally equally developed in the typical Indian race of the 

 species, although they are subject to considerable variation in this respect among 

 the local races. The sambar has a large muzzle and coarse hair, the stags generally 

 ha vino- a mane on the neck and throat. The general colour of the coat is uniform 

 dark brown, sometimes tending to grey, and sometimes of a pale yellowish hue, 

 becoming a little paler below, with some chestnut on the hind-quarters and 

 under-parts. Old stags are sometimes almost black or slaty grey. In the 

 typical Indian race the fawns are not spotted, although they are so in the Malay 

 form. Sambar are seldom found in large herds, but generally alone, or in small 

 family-parties of four or five or a few more. They are mainly nocturnal in their 

 habits, and although they may sometimes be seen grazing in the open at morning 

 and evening, they generally feed during the night, passing the day amid thick 

 covert. In addition to grass and various wild fruits, they feed largely on young 

 twigs and leaves. The pairing-time in the Indian plains is during October 

 and November, but in the Himalaya is said to be in spring. It is at this 

 season that sambar gather in herds, and the loud call of the stag resounds 

 during the darker hours. Rarely is there more than one fawn at a birth, and the 

 period of gestation is eight months. The antlers are generally shed about April, 

 but may fall at any season, and in many cases apparently they are not cast every 

 year. The call of the stag is a loud, metallic bellow ; that of the hind a shriller and 

 rather weak grunting. When a sambar scents a tiger or leopard, or beholds a 

 human being, it utters a sharp, hissing danger-signal. A large number of these 

 deer are killed by tigers and wild dogs, while some of the stags meet their death in 

 combats among themselves. 



The sambar has a very wide distribution, extending from Ceylon and the 

 .Malay countries to Sze-chuan in north-western China. 



A smaller ally of the sambar, the para, or hog-deer (C. porcinus), 

 inhabits the whole plain of the Indus and Ganges from Sind and the 

 Punjab to Assam, and thence ranges into Tenasserim. Common in the Terai, but never 

 ascending the mountains, it may enter the Indian peninsula within a small area 

 along the tributaries of the Ganges, but it is doubtful if it occurs in central India, 

 and the statement that it is indigenous to Bombay and Madras is probably due to 

 its being mistaken for the muntjac. Hog-deer have been introduced into Ceylon, 

 where they are confined to a small area near Mathura. A local race (C. p. hecki), 

 inhabits Siam. 



The hog-deer has rather a long tail, and short legs, and fairly long pedicles to 

 the small three-tined antlers, the brow-tine of which forms an acute angle with 

 the beam, while the outer tine of the terminal fork is longer than the inner one. 

 In shoulder-height it is only about 24 inches, and its length from 42 to 44 inches, 

 the tail measuring about 8 inches. The antlers, which are shed in April, do not as 



