THE AXIS DEER. 255 
the Axis and spotted individuals of the Fallow-Deer. 
In both the colour of the back and sides is fawn spotted 
with white; a deep brown or blackish band occupies 
the middle line of the back; and an almost continuous 
white line passes along either side of the belly between 
the limbs. But the head, which in the Fallow-Deer is 
of a uniform grayish brown, is marked in the Axis by a 
broad dusky spot on the forehead, and a line of the 
same colour extending along the middle of the nose. 
The chin and throat of the Axis are pure white, while 
in the Fallow-Deer they are of nearly the same colour 
with the chest and under surface of the body, which 
are both of a grayish hue. The buttocks of the Fallow- 
Deer are occupied by a broad white patch, separated 
from the fawn of the back and sides by a black band ; 
and the tail is black above and white beneath. In the 
Axis the buttocks are of the same colour with the 
adjacent parts, and the tail is tawny above and white 
beneath, with a narrow blackish border towards the tip. 
Such are the principal differences in colour between 
the most nearly approximating individuals of the two 
species; but it is only during the summer that any 
similarity exists, for the Fallow-Deer changes in winter 
to a uniform brown, while the Axis retains its spotted 
livery throughout the year. In form the most remark- 
able distinctions consist in the rather larger size of the 
Axis; in the somewhat more elongated and pointed 
shape of its head; and in the suborbital fissures, which 
are of large size in the Fallow-Deer, and are of little 
depth in the Indian species, in which their place is 
strongly marked by a patch of reddish hairs. 
The Axis appears to be common in India and the 
larger Islands of the Indian Archipelago, but is most 
abundant in Bengal and on the banks of the Ganges. 
There can be little doubt that it is the animal men- 
tioned by Pliny, under the name which was adopted 
