MOSCHUS MOSCHirEKUa. 267 



kucogaster, Hodgson ? — Kasturd, H.— J2om« or Roos. and Kasture, Kash- 

 mir. — La and Ldwd, in Tibet. — Bib-jo, in Ladak. — Be7id, in Kunawur. 



The Musk-deer. 



Descr. — Color usually dark fuscous-brown, paler beneath, the hairs being 

 long and harsh, with hoary rings and a black tip ; ears internally and 

 chin whitish ; ears large and erect ; tail very short, hairy in females, almost 

 naked with a tuft of hair at the end in males. 



Length of male nearly 3 feet ; height 22 to 23 inches. 



The color varies a great deal, perhaps according to age and season. 

 Markham describes it as a dark speckled brownish-gray, nearly black on 

 the hind quarters, edged down the inside of the thighs with reddish 

 yellow, the throat, belly and legs lighter gray. Hodgson describes his 

 chrysogaster as bright sepia-brown above, sprinkled with golden red ; orbitar 

 region, lining and base of ears, whole body below and insides of limbs, 

 rich golden red or orange ; a dark brown patch on the buttocks ; legs 

 fulvescent. Adams says, " others are yellowish- white all over, the upper 

 parts with the belly and inner side of the thighs white." One I got in 

 Kashmir had the back sepia-brown with grizzled gray spots in lines on 

 the back ; head more or less 'grizzled, edges and insides of ears, rump, tail, 

 lower parts and limbs, grizzled gray, very pale and almost white on the 

 rump and tail ; posterior limbs with a dark brown stripe as far as the 

 knee. The young are spotted with white. 



The hairs are long, thick, bristly, very thick-set, white at the base and 

 for more than half their length. The canines of the male are about 3 

 inches long, about as thick as a goose quill. The tail of the male has 

 a peculiar gland, the secretion from which glues the hairs together. The 

 legs are long and slender, and the toes long and pointed, with the false 

 hoofs very long, touching the ground. 



The musk-deer is found throughout the Himalayas, always at great 

 elevations, in summer rarely below 8,000 feet, and as high as the limits of 

 forest. It extends through the Himalayas to Central and Northern Asia, 

 as far as Siberia. 



Hodgson says that the musk-deer is " solitary, living in retired spots 

 near rocks, or in the depths of the forests. They leap well but cannot 

 climb nor descend slopes well.* They rut in winter, and produce one or 



* This is contrary to the experience of most sportsmen. 



