DEER. 3S9 



occasions when these deer are found in open country, any good horse which is 

 not overweighted by its rider, ought to have no difficulty in running them down. 



In the islands of the Malayan region there occur several small 

 sambar-like deer, in regard to which it is difficult to determine 

 whether they indicate races of the ordinary sambar which have been introduced 

 by the natives, and have gradually dwindled in size, or whether they are entitled 

 to rank as distinct species. Such is the Timor deer (0. timorensis), a small, thick- 

 set animal, scarcely half the size of the smaller race of the true sambar; and also 

 the Moluccan 'leer (C. moluccensis), in which the general build is more slight and 

 graceful. In the Philippine and Ladrone Islands, there occurs another of these small 

 sambar-like deer {C. philippinus), belonging to the variety in which the anterior 

 tines of the antlers are shorter than the posterior. This form is scarcely larger 

 than the under-mentioned hog-deer, but its build is more slender, and the colour a 

 uniform dark brown, save for a pale ring round each eye, and the white on the 

 under-paits of the tail and the inner surface of the thighs. 



On the other hand, there can be no doubt as to the specific distinctness of 

 Kuhl's deer (C. kuMi), from the Bavian Islands between Borneo and Java. This 

 deer, while resembling most of the forms noticed above, in that its fur has the same 

 uniform coloration throughout life, differs in having a skull resembling that of 

 the hog-deer, and displaying the same absence of tusks in the upper jaw. The 

 colour of the fur in this deer is pale brown; but the individual hairs are 

 ringed with alternate tints, instead of having the uniform hue of those of the 

 hog-deer. 



Very different from all the other members of this group is Prince Alfred's 



deer (('. alfredi), from the Philippines, which resembles the chital in having at all 



ages and all seasons a spotted coat. This deer stands about 2i feet at the withers; 



and its colour is a dark chocolate-brown, with about six longitudinal rows of 



somewhat indistinctly-marked yellowish spots. The antlers are comparatively 



short, and have the front tine of the terminal fork directed inwardly, while the 



outer surfaces of the ears are nearly devoid of hairs. 



_ _. The last and smallest representative of this group is the hoij- 



Hog-Deer. r . 



deer, or para (C poreiniis), of India and Burma, which stands only 



some 24 inches in height at the withers. In build, this species is characterised by 



the relative shortness of its legs, while the tail is rather long, and there is no mane 



on the neck and throat. The comparatively short antlers are mounted on very 



long bony pedicles, and after giving off the brow-tine have a nearly straight beam 



till the small terminal fork, the front branch of which is longer than the hind one. 



There are no tusks in the upper jaw. In colour, the fur of the para is brownish, 



with a more or less decided yellowish or reddish tinge ; each hair being tipped 



with white, so as to produce a speckly appearance. The under-parts are paler, 



and the under surface of the tail and the insides of the ears white. The fur 



! »■(< anes paler in summer, and is then generally marked with light brown or white 



spots, which may be limited to one or two rows on either side of a dark streak 



down the back. The young have the whole body spotted, till they attain the age 



of some six months. The antlers seldom exceed 10 or 12 inches in length. 



In India the hog-deer is confined to the great Indo-Gangetic plain, where it 



