292 



The Living Animals of the World 



?&<.„ 



Tufted Deer. 



Near relatives of the odd little muntjacs 

 are the Tufted Deeh, of which two species, 

 the Tibetan and JMichie's, are known to 

 naturalists. The former, found in Eastern 

 Tibet, is about the size of tiie Indian muntjac, 

 and has a coat of dark chocolate-brown, 

 curiously sjieckled on the face, neck, and fore 

 jiarts ; the frontal tuft is nearly black. The 

 antlers of the bucks of both this and Michie's 

 deer are extremely small, scarcely observable 

 at a first glance. Both species have long 

 curving tusks projecting fronr the upi>er jaw. 

 i\iicliie's tufted deer is of a greyish-black 

 or iron-grey colour, the face and neck dark 

 grev This animal is found in the reed-beds 

 l)ordering the Ningpo and other rivers in 

 Eastern China. 



Water-deer. 

 The Chinese Watek-deer is another 

 diminutive deer, standing no more than 20 

 inches at the shoulder. The body-colouring 

 t -. ' ' !:i^iii:~-iiii,/^ '. ^ _ is pale rufous yellow, the head and the back 



[/iu,nb,„y. Qf ^[jg gjjj.g ijeing darker in hue than the rest 



of the body. The males carry no antlers. 

 This tiny deer is found in North-east China, 

 and is well known on the islands of the 

 Yangtse-kiang River. It loves thick cover, especially reeds and long grass. So apt is it at 

 concealment, that at Wolnirn Abbey, where specimens are kept in a paddock of long tussocky 

 grass, hours may be S])ent without catching a glimpse of it. When disturlied, it scurries off 

 with short, quick leajis, very much after the manner of the hare. The males of the Chinese 

 deer, like the muntjacs, carry long curved tusks in the upper jaw. 



lloE Deer. 



The EriUJl'EAN Hoi:, one ot the handsomest of all the smaller deer, is still happily found 

 in many parts of Scotland. In England, where it had at one time become well-nigh extinct, 

 it has been here and there reintroduced with some success. In Ireland it seems nex'er to have 

 been found. On the Continent its range is wide, extending from the south of Sweden, through 

 Eranee and (iermany. Id Italy, (ireece, Turkey, Austria-Hungary, and Spain. Eound in 

 Southern linssia and the Caucasus, it makes its way eastward as far as North Palestine and 

 Persia. The roe stands, in good adult specimens, 2G inches at the shoulder, and weighs about 

 GO lbs. The handsome and \'cry characteristic horns jiieasure in good specimens from 10 to 

 13 inches o\er tlie (juter curve. The summer coat of this lieautiful little deer is a bright 

 rufous brown ; in winter a darker and duller brown, with a notaljle white patch about the tail. 

 The roe is always more or less a wood-loving creature. Jn winter, esiiecially, it seldom cares 

 to quit the shelter of the forest; in summer, however, the deer wander into more open localities. 

 The fawns are born generally towards the end of ]\lay, and two young are usually produced. In 

 the rutting-season the males fight savagely with one another. 



I\Ir. J. (j. Millais gives an instance of a buck killed in one of these desperate battles, in 

 which one antler of the victor, having penetrated the brain of the vannnished buck, had been 



SIJiKIUAN KOEEUCK. 

 Sho\v.s u m;ij,^Difict.'nt pair of antlei'S 



