3o8 BRITISH MAMMALS 



Cervus dama. The Common Fallow Deer 



The existing fallow deer are divided into two main types : 

 the first (rather larger than the second) becoming in the summer- 

 time of a light reddish-gray (or light reddish-brown), spotted 

 more or less brightly with white, the legs and belly being cream- 

 colour or a pale buff. The neck is of the fallow or reddish-gray 

 of the rest of the body, with or without spots on its lower 

 portion. There is generally a black line right down the centre 

 of the back from the shoulder to the tail, and this black is 

 prolonged to the very end of the upper surface of the tail, the 

 under surface of which is white. The rump under the tail is 

 white, edged by a blackish line on each side. This first type of 

 fallow deer changes the spotted coat in October, and throughout 

 the winter its pelage is on all the upper surface of the body a 

 dark uniform brown, while the belly and legs are a pale grayish- 

 brown. The black and white markings of rump and tail are 

 retained. The head of this fallow deer has white lips and chin 

 and whitish edges to the jaws. The inside of the ears is whitish. 

 There is generally a black mark (as in the roebuck), beginning 

 near the end of the angle of the nostrils, descending to the angle 

 of the mouth, and crossing over to the edges of the lower lip. 

 In many specimens of the spotted fallow deer no spots are discern- 

 ible above the shoulder on the neck, but this is certainly not the 

 case with all, as may be seen not only by the author's drawing, 

 which is done from life, but in a photograph, which is given to 

 illustrate the different varieties of fallow deer. If this photograph 

 is looked into carefully, it will be seen that in bucks and does, 

 where there are spots at all, the spots extend on to the lower 

 neck. Moreover, some of the photographs of fallow deer 

 given in Mr. J. G. Millais's 'British Deer and their Horns 

 also show indications of spots on the neck. The author has 

 even seen slight indications of spots on the cheeks of some 

 male fallow deer. It is, perhaps, necessary to insist on this 

 point, because it is often asserted that spots in this species never 

 extend beyond the shoulders. It is, of course, rare for deer 



