SAMBER HORNS. 



BY 



J. D. In vb rarity. 

 ( With 4 Plates.) 



(Read he/ore the Bombay Natural History Society on 

 25th January 1906.) 



The antlers of the Indian Samber (Cervus unkolor), like others of the 

 <deer of the Rusine group, such as the Cheetul and Hog Deer, are of a 

 simple character, having normally three tines only on each horn the brow 

 •antler and two at the top. The object of this paper is to illustrate the 

 different types of antlers carried by the Samber, all of them from mv 

 own collection. The first thing to be observed is the different manner 

 of growth of the upper tines. In the Cheetul and Hog Deer I think 

 the outer tine is invariably the longer. I speak only of good adult 

 heads. In the Samber, on the contrary, in the great majority of 

 instances the inner tine is the longest one. The head pictured as 

 .No. 1 is a very typical head, length 44 inches, span between outer 

 upper points 33^ inches and round burr 10 inches. No. 2 is a 

 specimen of the wide spreading head, and measures, length 42 inches, 

 span 41 1 inches, round burr 10^ inches. This is a remarkable 

 head for stoutness of horn, the thinnest part of the beam being 7 

 inches in circumference, gradually thickening to a circumference of 10 | 

 inches just below where the upper points divide. The weight of this 

 head with the small piece of skull attached six months after it was shot 

 was 19 lbs. I do not think the piece of skull can weigh 1 lb. An 

 •ordinary 40-inch head with a similar small piece of skull attached, 

 -only weighs about 12 or 13 lbs. A single horn picked up, 41 inches 

 long, thinnest part of the beam 8 inches, weighs 7 lbs. 13 oz. 



Both the heads, Nos. 1 and 2, have the inner upper tine the longest. 

 No. 3 has the outer tine the longest and measures, length 40 inches, span 

 3G inches, round burr 9 inches. It is very seldom one meets with a 

 head where ihe horns are not symmetrical, the longer tine being 

 on the outside of one horn and on the inside of the other. I 

 .have only two heads of this description, and. curiously enough, 

 .got them both within a few days of each other. No. 4 is one of 

 them and measures, length 43 inches, span 34 inches, round burr 

 :9 inches, an inch or two is broken off the outer tine of the left 



