314 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
were nearly as large as the mother. On these, the tuft of hair 
over the metatarsal gland is plainly seen, while, as I have stated, 
the hybrids from the Ceylon buck, on which this gland is ex- 
ceedingly small, showed no vestige of the gland, the absence of 
which they inherited from the mother. The hybrids from the 
Virginia buck, on which the gland is conspicuous, inherited it 
from the sire. 
The readiness with which the Ceylon does bred to the Vir- 
ginia bucks would point to the conclusion that they are specifi- 
cally more nearly allied than are the Ceylon and the Acapulco 
deer, although in the former case one is more than twice as large 
as the other ; besides, they differ very much in form, color, and 
habit, for the Virginia deer are very gregarious, while the Ceylon 
deer are quite solitary in their habits, never associating together, 
except the doe with her fawns. In the other case, where I found 
so much reluctance to inter-breeding, there is very little differ- 
ence in size, and scarcely an appreciable difference in form, and 
in color they are very much alike; and, as I have in another 
place stated, no one would suspect a difference of species, were it 
not for the presence of the gland in the. one and its absence in 
the other, to which must be added the sexual aversion already 
noted. None of these hybrids have as yet bred, though I shall 
be disappointed if they do not prove reasonably fertile. In every 
instance where I have succeeded in procuring hybrids the females 
have not had access to males of their own species. Wherever 
there has been such opportunity, they have always bred true to 
the species. Now that I have procured an Acapulco buck, it 
will be interesting to know whether the female of that species 
will forsake her unnatural associations with the Virginia buck. 
During the summer, these Acapulco deer seemed to take no 
notice of each other, but in September I generally found them 
in the vicinity of each other; but the doe, which was fully one 
third larger than the young buck, showed herself a vicious ter- 
magant, and chased him about fearfully, especially if she saw me 
feeding him. By November he began to resent this, and would 
turn upon her and exchange a few passes, and by the first of 
December he succeeded in conquering her, and now seems to lead 
a more peaceable domestic life. I never saw him appear to pay 
the least attention to any other doe in the park, though I was 
very anxious to see him with the Ceylon does. Still I have my 
apprehensions that both the Ceylon and Acapulco does will again 
breed to the common bucks, for my observations have convinced 
t 
