DEER. 



353 



the evidence of which the Caspian deer was considered to represent a distinct 

 species, differs from that of the other members of the group in that the antlers have 

 only three points when fully adult, namely, a brow-tine and a fork at the extremity. 



THE INDIAN SPOTTED DEER, OR CHITAL (Cervus axis). 



The spotted, or axis deer, of India and Ceylon, is our first representative of 

 two very closely allied 

 groups of Indian deer, 

 in which the cylin- 

 drical antlers have but 

 three tines on each side ; 

 the bez-tine being 

 absent, and the beam 

 terminating in a simple 

 fork. In the spotted 

 deer, of which a single 

 antler is shown in C of 

 the figure on p. 340 and 

 a pair in the upper 

 figure of the accom- 

 panying woodcut, the 

 bez-tine of the antlers 

 is given off nearly at 

 a right angle with the 

 beam. The whole 

 length of the antlers is 

 about three times that 

 of the skull in average 

 specimens ; and the 

 hinder tine of the 

 terminal fork is con- 

 siderably longer than 

 the one in front. 



The spotted deer 

 or, as it is called in 

 India, the chital or 

 chitra, varies consider- 

 ably in height in differ- 

 ent localities, buck from 

 Northern and Central 

 India standing, accord- 

 ing to Blanford, from 

 3 feet to 3 feet 2 inches 

 at the withers, whereas in Southern India the height seldom exceeds from 2 feet 6 

 inches to 2 feet 8 inches. The neck and throat of this deer are devoid of any 



VOL. n. 23 



ANTLERS OF INDIAN SPOTTED DEER (1), SWAMP-DEER (2), AND SAMBAR (3). 



