in captivity in lower bengal 159 



Observations on their habits. 



The muntjacs are retiring, unsocial, and suspicious ; they are 

 ungainly and awkward in movement, owing to their hind quarters being 

 higher than the head and neck, which they carry low ; they have a shrill 

 bark, which is, however, not often heard in captivity. Instances are 

 known of male muntjacs inflicting severe wounds by their sharp canines, 

 and in one case it was a deep and dangerous one indeed. 



The wapiti loves shade and water, to which they frequently 

 resort both during the day and night in summer : they regularly shed 

 their coats at the approach of the warm weather, and about the middle 

 of February thick patches of woolly hair come off different parts of the 

 body. The coats of the f ormosan deer undergo changes of colour ; 

 during the summer it resembles the spotted deer, but in winter it is 

 uniformly brown like a molucca deer. The Barasingha is, however, 

 more remarkable for its seasonal transformation, as it is accompanied by 

 a corresponding change in the temperament of the animal. It sheds 

 its horns about February and March, sometimes later, and in about 

 three weeks its coat is changed from an uniform sandy brown to fawn 

 colour of a delicate and agreeable shade, with a series of white spots 

 longitudinally arranged on either side of the median line of the back ; 

 it loses its fierce and dangerous character, and becomes as mild and 

 timid as a lamb. The colour and temperament, however, gradually 

 change as the horns harden and the rutting season approaches ; by 

 about the end of June, if the rain has already commenced, or the 

 beginning of July, the animal becomes again fierce and dangerous ; it 

 charges at the fencing if any one approaches it, stamps the ground 

 with fore feet, grinds its teeth in rage, digs the ground with its horns 

 with all the symptoms of immoderate sexual excitement. When in a 

 quieter mood, it enjoys a mud bath in the slushy hollow of its own 

 digging. Its call note, which has been described as " being a combin- 

 ation of the bray of an ass and the squeaking, grinding sound of a native 

 oil press," is only heard about this period. Like the wapiti, the sambur 

 is very fond of shade and water, some being more aquatic than others. 

 A young equine deer has frequently been observed to stand for hours 

 together in breast-deep water, feasting upon the duck weeds : though 

 not generally aquatic, spotted deer have sometimes been noticed to 

 resort to water for the same purpose. The female deer sometimes 

 fight among themselves, and use their fore limbs as effectively as the 

 males do their horns ; they rear themselves on their hind legs, and hug 

 and batter one another with the fore limbs. A pugnacious female 

 would, when sulking, attack a stag also, rearing up and striking and 

 biting in this case its hind quarters. A female wapiti once attacked a 

 gentleman who was superintending its transfer from one division of a 

 paddock to another ; the animal in a fit of temper suddenly reared and 

 struck him down with its fore limbs. 



(211) THE INDIAN CHEVROTAIN. 

 (TEAGULUS MEMMINA— {Erxl.) ) 

 Hab. — Central and Southern India and Ceylon. Specimens have 

 been obtained from Orissa and Chota Nagpore. 



