1878.] CLASSIFICATION OF THE CERVIDvE. 911 



France ; Spain ; Germany ; Austria ; Turkey ; Greece ; Corsica ; 

 Sardinia ; Province of Constantine (Algeria) ; Asia Minor ; Cau- 

 casus. 



A comparison of the gigantic antlers of the Red Deer of the 15th, 

 16th, and 17th centuries preserved in the old hunting Schloss at 

 Moritzburg (built 1 540), near Dresden, with the antlers of Red Deer 

 from the islands of Harris or Sardinia, shows in a most striking 

 manner the great variations to which this species is subject. Some 

 of the antlers at Moritzburg measure 50 inches along the outside 

 curve, are 10 inches in circumference round the smallest part of the 

 beam, and the two antlers carry from 24 to 50 points. The spread 

 between the coronal tines of one specimen is 74 inches. Antlers from 

 Harris and Sardinia rarely exceed 30 inches in length, their circum- 

 ference being about 4 inches ; they very rarely carry a larger num- 

 ber than 1 2 points ; and their span seldom exceeds 28 inches. 



I have considered the African Deer, Cervus barlarus, specifi- 

 cally identical with Cervus elaphus. Specimens from Corsica and 

 Sardinia completely bridge over the characters which have been ad- 

 vanced as distinctive of the African and European races. The second 

 brow-antler is rarely developed in the African form ; but I have known 

 instances of its occurrence. 



26. Cervus xanthopygus. 



1831. Cervus elaphus, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 217. 



1853. , Midd. Sib. Reis. Wirb., Band ii. Th. 2, p. 120. 



1859. ■ , Schrenck, Reis. u. Forsch. Amurlande, Band 



i. p. 170. 



1802. , Radde, Reis. im Slid. v. Ost-Sib. Band i. p. 284. 



1867. — — xanthopygus, Alph. M.-Edw. Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 5, 

 vol. viii. p. 376 ; Rech. s. 1. Mamm. p. 181, pi. 21. 



1876. elaphus, Prejevalsky, Mongolia (Engl, trans.), vol. i. 



p. 164. 



Range. From the Caucasus to the Altai, and thence round 

 Baikal through Dauria, as far as the Lena and Witim {Pallas); 

 thence to the mountains surrounding the sources of the Silimdsha 

 and Bureja {Middendorff) ; along the Amoor, as far eastwards as 

 the Gorin and the Chelasso, and thence southwards to the sea- 

 coast, a few days' journey south of the Bay of Kastries {Schrenck) ; 

 Chinghan Mountains {Radde) ; Munniula Mountains (China, lat. 

 of Pekin) {Prejevalsky). 



Type, Mus. d'Hist. Nat. Paris. 



This species was founded provisionally by Professor Alphonse 

 Milne-Edwards upon the examination of a single specimen, certain 

 cranial peculiarities and the large size of the anal disk deciding him 

 that it was expedient for the time being to keep the form separate 

 from Cervus elaphus. It is by no means certain that Cervus xantho- 

 pygus (should the species ultimately prove distinct from Cervus 

 elaphus, which I greatly doubt) is the form found in all the localities 

 above mentioned. The exact limits of the distribution eastwards of 

 Cervus elaphus, Cervus eustephanns (Blanf.), and Cervus maral 



