CHAPTER XXXVI. 



THE SPOTTED DEER. 



Cervus Axis. 



Generally throughout India — Chital ; (The Male), Jhdnk. 



THIS beautiful deer is common all along the foot of the Himalayas from the Sutlej 

 eastwards as far as the Nipal Terai, but it is not found in the Sikkim Terai, nor in the 

 Bhutan Dooars. Though as a rule it appears to prefer low hills or the vicinity of hills, vast 

 numbers of Spotted Deer are met with in the low lying Sunderbuns and along the western 

 coast of the Bay of Bengal, within a few hours' journey of Calcutta. 



The Spotted Deer somewhat resembles the Fallow Deer, but its coloring is more 

 brilliant, and it is a gamer-looking animal. Its color is a bright reddish chesnut, with a 

 dark brown stripe along the back ; the lower parts are white, and the whole body is beauti- 

 fully spotted with white, the marks being arranged in horizontal lines. The tail is long, 

 white beneath, and somewhat bushy. 



When in good condition the skin is singularly glossy and very beautiful. The horns 

 of the Chital are large in proportion to the size of the animal ; they vary very much in 

 shape and thickness ; they have only three tines, though occasional specimens may be found 

 with four tines, but these are usually deformities. 



A peculiarity about the Spotted Deer is, that it appears to have no regular season for 

 shedding its horns, as is, I believe, the case with almost all other deer. I have shot stags 

 with hard horns, others with horns in the velvet, and others again without any horns, in the 

 same week ; and this in different months. Others have remarked the same, and some have 

 hence inferred that the Chital does not shed its horns annually. This would be against all 

 analogy, and I think that the real explanation of the fact is that the Chital sheds its horns 

 annually, not at any particular season, but according to its age. The breeding season is 

 not restricted to any one month, and therefore deer would be born in various months, and 

 would shed their horns accordingly. 



The females are considerably smaller than the males, slightly lighter in color, and with 

 smaller spots. 



The Spotted Deer inhabits the forests at the foot of the hills, and is also found on 

 the hills themselves to the elevation of a few hundred feet. It seems particularly to 

 delight in low hills intersected by watercourses, such as the Sewaliks and the hills enclosing 

 the various ' Duns,' as the valleys which lie at the foot of the Himalayas are called. 



