Vol. X, No. 4.] The " Shous M Deer o/ Tibet. 119 



Hodgson first saw and described while in Nepal came from 

 Western Tibet and belonged to a l( Shou " from that part of 

 the country, and that the specimen would have rejoiced also 

 in a large white caudal disk had the skin been present with the 



other spoils. 



Gervus affi 



of Eastern Tibet extending westwards as far as Lhassa, and 

 perhaps beyond, as I believe I am right in saying that the 

 specimens of Shou obtained by Major Iggulden near Lhassa 



during the Younghusband Mission were all of 'ervus affirms , 



and not of wallichii. 



The last and third kind of Shou in Tibet is the brown 

 stag known as Thorold's Deer, or Cervus albirostris. The live 

 specimen now in Nepal, of which the photographs (pi. XV, fig. b ; 

 and plate XVII) give a good idea, corresponds fully with the 

 description of it in Rowland Ward's book ' ' Records of Big 

 Game," 6th edition, pages 38-39. The caudal disk in this 

 species is larger than in Cervus affinis, but not so large as in 

 wallichii and is yellow instead of white. The animal is about 

 4 years old, and was also brought to Nepal via Lhassa and 

 is said to have been caught near Hokku Djong about 80 miles 



to the S. E. of Lhassa. 



Turning now to the second species of Shou or Cervus 

 a/finis of Hodgson. The three photographs (on plate XV, 

 fig. a; and plate XVI) give an idea of the appearance of a young 

 stag in his third year. He was imported to Katmandu for 

 Maharaja Sir Chandra Shumshere via Lhassa in 1912, with the 

 Thorold's deer, and is also said to have come from the vicinity 

 of Hokku Djong. 



Except upon the living specimen in Nepal I have never 

 before seen in Nepal a skin of Cervus affinis, i.e. that of a Shou 

 with the small white caudal disk and dark mesial line dividing it 

 and the tail. All the skins that have previously been shown 

 to me by the Maharaja have had the big white caudal 

 disk and white tail of the Shou known to naturalists as 

 Cervus wallichii. My inference from this fact is that the Shous 

 found in Tibet to the North of Central and Western Nepal 

 are probably all wallichii and not affinis. 



