The Barbary Stag 5 1 1 



distinguished from both the Bovida and Girajjidce by the appendages on 

 the head taking the form of antlers. These, it is almost superfluous to say, 

 although covered with a soft velvety skin during growth, when fully de- 

 veloped consist of bare rugged bone, supported on a pair of skin-covered 

 pedicles, from which they are periodically shed, to be replaced the 

 following season. Antlers, although occasionally in the form of simple 

 spikes, are generally branched in a more or less complex manner. Many 

 deer have upper tusks, which are always wanting in the Bovida, and in the 

 species without antlers these are long and sabre-shaped. The lateral hoofs 

 have proper supporting bones, which are always wanting in the Bovidce. 



In the genus Cervus the antlers, which are restricted to the males, are 

 provided with a brow-tine, above which there are at least two other tines. 

 The African forms are as follows : — 



A. Antlers rounded, without expansion. 



1. North African Red Deer (C. elaphus barbarus). 



B. Antlers expanded and palmated in their terminal two-thirds. 



2. Fallow Deer (C. dama). 



The Barbary Stag (Cervus elaphus barbarus) 



Al wassi of Arabs of Algeria ; Fertassa of Tunisians. 



This deer is somewhat smaller than the red deer of Europe, and its 

 antlers are generally without the bez or second tine, though the present 

 writer has seen specimens of horns at Tunis in which the bez was re- 

 presented by a small nodule. The colour of the male is a dark sepia 

 brown, a little lighter and grayer on the back. Faint yellowish spots 

 can occasionally be distinguished on the fur in the adults, while the 

 young, of course, are plainly spotted with yellowish white, as is the case 



