3 2 2 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



In 1853 the first calf was born; since then the increase has been great. Herds of this noble 

 antelope have been founded, at Hawkstone, by Viscount Hill ; at Taymouth, by the Marquis of Bread- 

 albane ; and at Tatton, by Lord Egertoo. 



THE NILGAIE. 



THIS animal is superior to the stag in stature ; it is more powerful and muscular, but less graceful in 

 its proportions. It is a native of the north-western provinces of India, and the countries between 

 these and Persia, where it is said to be very abundant. The adult male differs widely from the 

 female in colour : he being grayish-black, and she a bright yellowish bay. Though ill-tempered by 

 fits, these animals are generally docile ; so nmch so, indeed, that in India they are occasionally put into 

 harness. They breed very regularly in this country. 



Having thus completed the sub-tribes of Bovece,\ into which the tribe Bovina is divided, we pass 

 on to consider a tribe, or family, of Ruminants,J embracing the animals properly known as Deer. 



Siace Cuvier described several specimens from the study of the horns alone, many zoologists have 

 almost entirely depended on these parts for the character of the species. Colonel H. Smith has even 

 separated some species by the study of a single horn. But the facilities offered by menageries for a 

 particular examination of these animals, have shown that several most distinct, but allied species as 

 the stag of Canada and India have horns so similar that, by these, it is impossible to distinguish them. 

 On the other hand, they have shown that animals of the same herd, or even family, and sometimes 

 even the same specimen, under different circumstances, in succeeding years, have produced horns so unlike 

 one another in size and form, that they might be considered, if their history were not known, as horns 

 of very different species. " These observations," says M. Pucheran, " and the examination of the- 

 different cargoes of different horns which are imported for the uses of the cutler each cargo of which 

 is generally collected in a single locality, and, therefore, would most probably belong to #, single species 

 peculiar to the district have proved to me that the horns afford a much better character to separate 

 the species into groups than to distinguish the allied species from one another." 



Dr. J. E. Gray proposes to arrange the species of deer into three sections, according to the positions 

 of certain tufts of hair on the hind legs, thus : 1. A tuft of hair below the middle of the outside of 

 the metatarsus. 2. A tuft of hair above the middle of the outside of the metatarsus ; and, 3. A tuft 

 of hair on the inside of the hock. These tufts have the advantage of being found in both sexes, and 

 in all ages, so that th,ey can be consulted when the horns are deficient. 



THE ELK, OR MOOSE.g 



ELK is a word of Celtic origin, "elch," whence the Swedish "telg ;" the Latin word alee, or alces, first 

 occurring in the writings of Caesar, but also used by Pliny, is merely the original Celtic adopted into 

 the Roman language. 



The animal so called is the largest of the genus : it exceeds the horse at the shoulders, but is of a 

 rude figure. The head is large and long, having the muzzle and under lip covered with short hair, 

 which is very projecting and flexible, somewhat like that of the tapir, and serves to draw down, or 

 direct to the mouth, the shoots and twigs, which are its food. The eyes are small, but not expressive ; 

 the ears are large and open ; the neck is short and powerful ; and the withers high and narrow both 

 surmounted by a coarse mane ; the body is strong and stout ; the legs appear disproportionately long, 

 and the steps straggling and awkward. The horns are of enormous size some of them weighing sixty 

 pounds. Two pendulous, slender dewlaps of loose skin hang below the throat. The tail is short. The 

 hair, which is black at the tips, gray in the middle, and white at the roots, is full, long, coarse, and 

 harsh. 



The Elk is a native of the wooded wilds of Poland, Sweden, and Scandinavia. It is a long-lived 

 animal, and does not attain to its full growth till after its fourteenth year at least, so it is to be pre- 

 sumed ; for, up to that time, its horns, which are of a flat form, are annually provided with an additional 



Porux pictus. f Bnveoe, Oveae, Caprese, Antilopefe. $ Cerindse, c^Cervina. 



Alces Malchis. Alces Antique-rum. Kiippell. 



