236 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



one of the body skins to the museum, while Mr. Walter Reynolds, of Hawks- 

 Wick, near St. Albans (to whom they had been given by Major Begbie), has, 

 with equal generosity, presented one of the mounted heads. 



Compared with the typical chital of India, the Ceylon specimens, all of 

 which are perfectly similar in general character, differ not only by the very 

 much more slender and lighter antlers, but likewise in several details of color- 

 ation. The ground colour of the whole skin is, for instance, a yellower and 

 purer fawn, while the white spots on the body are smaller, and may be described 

 as flecks rather than spots. On the head the brown markings present a less 

 decided contrast with the fawn area, while the forehead is almost wholly brown 

 instead of showing chiefly a more or less well defined dark chevron between 

 the eyes, as is usually the case in the large chital of the mainland. The 

 chevron, it is true, is present in the Ceylon animal, but its distinctness is largely 

 obscured by the dark patch in the middle of the forehead. Ceylon chital, I 

 am told, rarely have antlers exceeding 27in. in length. 



Hodgson recognised two forms of chital in India, Axis major and Axis minor 

 or meclius (for he uses both these names), the latter distinguished by its inferior 

 size and being a native of the southern provinces of the peninsula. The 

 smaller form, which has never been properly defined, has been assumed to be 

 common to Ceylon ; but there is no evidence that such is really the case, and 

 consequently (especially in view of the fact that the smaller mainland form is 

 still undefined) I regard the Ceylon animal as a distinct race, to which the 

 name Cervus {Rusa) axis seylanicus might be applied, taking the mounted head 

 and the skin in the Museum as the types. 



Of the small amount of interest attaching to such local variations I am fully 

 aware, but as it is the fashion to recognise and name them, I cannot but follow 

 the lead. In Ceylon, I am told, sportsmen attribute the small size of the 

 antlers of the chital to the lack of lime in the soil. This, however, can scarcely 

 be regarded as a vera causa, since there are, I believe, many sandstone districts 

 in India where these deer grow good antlers. Rather must we attribute the 

 diminution in the size of the antlers in the Ceylon chital to that general 

 dwarfing which is very common in island forms. If every possessor of a fine 

 series of heads and skins from a single locality were to follow the example of 

 Mr. Reynolds and Major Eegbie, and present a specimen of each to the 

 Museum, not only would the national collection be largely increased, but we 

 should discover much more about the large animals of the British Empire than 

 is at present possible. 



R. LYDEKKER. 

 (From " The Field, " 3rd June 1905.) 



No. XIII —SITES OF BIRDS' NESTS. 

 It may be news to some of your readers, as it certainly was to me, that 

 Rhyacornis fuliginosus (The Plumbeous Redstart) sometimes builds in trees. Up 

 the Liddar Valley in Kashmir this summer on two occasions I saw them building 



