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Tur little animal shown in the photo- 
graph on this page belongs to 
Young Serow. a Species very rare in cap- 
tivity, the Serow (Nemorhadus 
sumatrensis). No specimen of this animal 
appears to have reached Europe alive, and 
the present one was thought a great rarity 
in India, where the photograph was taken. 
The serow is a member of the curious 
group of animals known as goat-antelopes, 
which are all mountaineers, and are most 
familiar im 
the person of the Huropean 
The present species has a wide 
range in South-Hast Asia, extending from 
Kashmir to the island of Sumatra. There 
is a certain amount of difference between 
examples from different parts of this large 
area, which gives reason for the establish- 
ment of several sub-species, the Himalayan 
serow being thus styled Nemorhedus suma- 
trensis bubalinus. In colour this form is 
black-and-tan, with white belly and stockings; 
chamois. 
Animal Life 
a specimen from Arakan in the Indian 
Museum, the Capricornis rubida of that 
eminent naturalist the late Hdward Blyth, 
was tan throughout. The serow is about 
the size of a donkey when adult, and 
both sexes have short but sharp horns, 
ringed at the base and gently curved 
backwards. The longest pair recorded barely 
exceed a foot in length. Nevertheless, in 
spite of his awkward appearance and in- 
significant-looking weapons, the serow 1s an 
animal of much character. HWxtremely 
active, he frequents the most difficult and 
steep ground, though he does not range to 
a very high elevation; and he is not only 
dangerous to man when brought to bay, 
but is said to be a match even for the 
terrible dholes or wild dogs (Cyon dukhun- 
ensis), the worst foes of Indian big game. 
ND 
For the accompanying ilustration, said to 
Tne Banting, be unique of its kind, the 
or Javan writer is indebted to the 
Wild Ox. 
Governor of one of the pro- 
vinces of Java. It represents a cow and 
a calf of the Banting, or wild ox of Java 
(Bos sondaicus), a near relative of the 
Indian gaur (Bos gawrus), but distinguished, 
among other features, by the circumstance 
that old bulls ave alone dark-coloured (nearly 
black in this instance), as well as by the 
presence of a horny boss between the bases 
of the horns, by the much smaller develop- 
ment of the hump on the withers, and by 
the conspicuous white blaze on the rump. 
In English collections, whether of living 
animals or of their skins, the wild banting 
is among the rarest of the larger mammals. 
The last specimen exhibited in the Zoological 
Gardens in the Regent’s Park was a bull 
(whether adult, history sayeth not) presented 
so long ago as 1863 by Sir Arthur Phayre ; 
and as this came from Pegu, it was not (as 
will be shown below) a member of the 
typical Javan race. The British Museum 
possesses the mounted skin of a very old 
bull from Java, but in too bad a_ state 
for exhibition; and (in addition to skulls 
and horns) the species is represented in the 
public galleries only by a stuffed specimen 
