250 CEJirix.ir. 



the summit more or less branched ; muzzle somewhat pointed ; muffle 

 broad ; with a hairy band above the lip ; eye-pits moderate ; tail very 

 short with a disk round it ; hair coarse. Of large size. 



The red-deer of Scotland is the type of this group, and the Indian 

 Fauna includes two species, both outliers of Northern and Central Asia, 

 one in the extreme north-west, and the other in the extreme north-east 

 comer of the province. Some species have only one basal tine. 



217- Cervus Wallichii. 



CcviER.— Blyth, Cat. 481.— Figd. F. Cuvier, Mammif. 2, pi. 103.— 

 C. pygargus, apud Haedwicke. — C. caspianus and C. eashmiriensis, Fal- 

 coner. — C. elaphus of Asia apud Pallas. — C. nareyanus, Hodgson, 

 (young). — Hangul or Songlu, in Kashmir. — Barasingha, H. 



The Kashmir Stag. 



Descr. — Horns with the extremity usually trifurcate in adults. General 

 color brownish-ash, darker along the dorsal line to the rump ; small cau- 

 dal disk white, contrasting strongly with the blackish border that merges 

 into the body color ; sides and limbs paler ; lips and chin white ; ears 

 whitish ; eyes surrounded by a white circle ; hair on the ridge of the neck 

 long, thick and bushy, and browner than the rest. 



Length, about 7 to 7| feet; height 12 to 13 hands; tail about 5 inches. 



In summer the pelage is bright rufous passing into liver brown, or 

 " bright pale, rufous-chesnut." The beUy of the male is dark brown con- 

 trasting with the pale ashy hue of the lower part of the flanks. The 

 legs have a pale dusky median Hne. In females the whole lower parts 

 are albescent. In old males the hair of the lower neck is long and shaggy. 

 The horns have frequently twelve points, i. e., a brow antler, bez-antler, 

 median tine and a trifurcated tip ; but, sometimes other small points, and 

 occasionally a doubly forked tip. Fifteen and sixteen, and even eighteen, 

 points have been counted, but such horns are very rare, and ten points arc 

 the average of by far the greatest number killed. The average length of 

 the horns may be stated at about 40 inches, but they are stated to reach 4 

 feet in length. In one pair 40 inches long, the extreme divergence of the 

 snags was 41 inches, and the nearest points at the tip were 24 inches apart. 



The Kashmir stag nearly approaches the red deer of Europe. It some- 

 what perhaps exceeds the European animal in size, and it has the horns 



