The Deer Tribe 



281 



The summer coat is rufous ; in winter tlie pelage is of a darkish lirown. Tlie "i'arkand stag 

 is an apparently allied species, found in the forests bordering on the Yarkand or Tarim Kiver. 



Two more stags close the list of those Asiatic deer which approximate more or less closely 

 to the red deer type. These are the Siiou, or SiKiiiM SrAti, and TiiuR(jLI)'.s Deek, concerning 

 neither of whiclr animals is much known at present. The shou, of wliich only the head 

 lias yet been brought to England, appears to be a very large stag, in size appi-oximating to 

 the gigantic wapiti. The antlers are very large, extending to as much as 55 inches over the 

 outer curve. So far as is at present known, this great deer is found in the country "north of 

 Bhutan and tlie valley eastward of Cliumbi, which drains northward into the Sangpo." No 

 Euroi)ean hunter, it is believed, lias ever yet levelled a rifle or even set eyes on this noble deer. 



In England Tliorold's deer is known from two specimens shot by Dr. W. G. Thorold, 

 during a journey across Tibet, at an elevation of aliout 13,500 feet. The high Tibetan plateau 

 and other adjacent parts of Central Asia form the habitat of this species. In size Thorold's 

 deer is about on a le\'el with the Kashmir stag : the coat is dark brown ; the antlers are 

 distinctive in their backward curve, in tlie lack of the bez tine, and their flattened appearance. 

 The muzzle and chin are pure white, as is the inner surface of the ears. 



"Wapiti. 



Wapiti are the giants of the red deer group, carrying enormous antlers, and attaining as 

 much as 1,000 lbs. in weight. The true wapiti of North America, known in that country 

 chiefly by the local name of Elk, carry by far the finest and the hea\iest heads of any of 

 the typical deer kind. Mr. Eowland Ward, in his book " Eecords of Big (ianie," gives the 

 length of antlers of a twelve-pointer shot in the Olympic ^Mountains, Washington State, as 

 70 inches over the outer curve ; while anotlier specimen, also a twelve-jiointer, taken from a 

 wapiti shot in Wyoming, measures 66 inches. 

 Occasional heads bear as many as 17, 19, and 

 even 20 tines, or points, but from 12 to 14 

 points are more usual in fine a\erage heads. 

 A good stag will stand from 5 feet 4 inches 

 to 5 feet 8 inches at the shoulder. Mag- 

 nificently shaped, splendid in form and bear- 

 ing, as in the size of its antlers, a more lordly 

 creature than the stag wapiti does not pace 

 the earth. 



" The wapiti," says Colonel Theodore 

 Roosevelt in " The Encyclopa'dia of Sport." 

 "is highly polygamous, and during the rut 

 the master bulls gather great liarems about 

 them and do fierce battle with one another, 

 while the weaker bulls are driven off by 

 themselves. At this time the bulls are 

 comparatively easy to approach, because they 

 are very noisy, incessantly challenging one 

 another by night and day. Settlers and 

 hunters usually sjieak of their challenge as 

 'whistling,' but this is a very inadequate 

 description. The challenge consists of several 

 notes, first rising and then fidling. Heard 



near by, especially among unattractive sur- (^ ^-^^gj. ^ ^i_^.- - ^-^„ ,. ,_ t 



roundings, it is not particularly impressive, fimio bij &. w. irihon d. Co , Ltd.} [Aocdeen. 



+ „„„ f,.^y^ n oMinonl tr, n rear IIANCHURIAN WAPITI CALLING. 



varvmff m tone iiom a s( ueai to a loai, , , . , . „ x, 



J tJ -", The great size of the fuurth tiiie, characteristic of the sjiecies, is very 



and ending with grunts ; out at a little nuticeabie. 



36 



'm^^^§n 



