1909.] NEW RACE OF DEER FROM SZE-CHUEX. 589 



Of this hind he brought home the skin, skull, and limb-bones, 

 which have been secured for the British Museum and form the 

 subject of the present communication. Captain McNeill described 

 the deer as being nearly the size of a Wapiti ; and this estimate 

 seems to be approximately borne out by the skull and skin, the 

 former of which, although immature, is rather larger than the 

 skull of an adult red deer hind. Unfortunately, Captain McNeill 

 was unable to furnish any information with regard to the form 

 of the antlers of the stag. 



The general charactei's of the skin indicate a deer akin to the 

 Hangul {Cervus cashmirianus) of Kashmir and Kishtwaz. The 

 coat is, for instance, of the same dense and close character, with 

 the individual hairs ringed with dark and light in their terminal 

 halves, so as to give a speckled appearance to the body- fur. 

 There is the same narrow white area on the buttocks, bordered 

 by a darkish band, which is continued down the middle line of 

 the short tail, and there is a similar dark mane on the neck, 

 continued as a dark line for some distance down the back. 



The Sze-chuen deer is, however, a much lighter-coloured and a 

 more fully speckled animal than the typical Hangul. The 

 general colour is grey fawn, becoming paler on the limbs, of 

 which the backs and inner sides are nearly white. The individual 

 hairs on the body have also a greater number of light rings ; and 

 the speckling is as well-developed on the flanks and neck as on 

 the back, whereas in the Kashmir Hangul the speckling is almost 

 obsolete in the regions first-named. In both forms the tips of 

 the hairs are, however, always light, although on the flanks and 

 neck of the Kashmir stag these tips are but little paler than the 

 genei"al body-colour. On the back the dorsal stripe of the new 

 deer stops short a little behind the shoulder, instead of continuing 

 as a more or less distinct line to the rump. The Sze-chuen deer 

 lacks the white under-lip of its Kashmh'i relative ; but, on the 

 other hand, the whole throat is much lighter tlian the general 

 body-colour, instead of being quite as dark, or darker, in the 

 stags, at any rate, of the typical Hangul. Then again, the whole 

 of the under-parts of the Sze-chuen deer are dirty white, whereas 

 in the Kashmiri animal the abdomen alone is white, while the 

 lower surface of the chest is darker than the back. Certain 

 dififerences are observable in regard to the extent of the white 

 and black of the buttocks when the Sze-chuen skin is compared 

 with those of the Kashmir Hangul in the Museum, but these 

 may be merely individual. The gland on the hind cannon-bone 

 is pale chestnut in the new deer, and thus shows out, against the 

 grey fawn, much more conspicuously than in the typical Hangul. 



The skin of a second hind in the possession of Captain McNeill 

 agrees in all essential characters with the specimen described. 



So far as the present specimens go, the Sze-chuen deer may be 

 defined as follows : — 



Allied" to Cervus cashmirianus, but much paler and more 

 profusely sj)eckled ; the general colour being grey fawn, becoming 



