DEER. 



357 



Distribution. 



likewise an equally-marked difference in regard to the degree of development of the 

 ridges and furrows on the antlers. 



The sambar occurs typically in the wooded undulating or hilly 

 districts of India and Ceylon ; but Mr. Blanford concludes that the 

 smaller Malayan and Burmese forms, which have been described under the names of 

 C. hippelaphus and C. equinus, are not specifically separate : although the front-tine 

 of the terminal fork of the antlers is much shorter than the back one, instead of 



THE SAMBAR (A ll.lt. size). 



the two being subequal. The range of the sambar accordingly extends from India 

 to the Malayan Islands, and thus covers nearly the entire Oriental region. In the 

 Himalaya it may range to elevations of nine thousand or ten thousand feet : and it 

 is commonly found on the highest mountains of Southern India and ( Vylon. It is 

 but seldom seen on the alluvial plains frequented by the chital, and is absent from 

 the sandy plains of Sind, the Punjab, and Rajputana. 



Mr. Blanford observes that the sambar " is the woodland deer of 

 South-Eastern Asia generally, and is more widely and generally dis- 

 tributed than any other species. Although it does not shun the neighbourhood of 



Habits. 



