Red Deer 75 



however, all these very probably belong to the same animal, this may be 

 merely an individual peculiarity. According to Sir Victor Brooke, the 

 still smaller red deer from Sardinia and Corsica " completely bridge over 

 the characters which have been advanced as distinctive of the African and 

 European races." The red deer being essentially a northern form, the loss 

 of the bez-tine in the southern race may be due to degeneracy owing to the 

 unsuitability of a warmer climate to full development. 



Distribution. — North-Western Africa, in Tunisia and Algeria, more 

 especially in the forests of Constantine between Bone and Calle and also in 

 the district of Tabessa. On the plains in the neighbourhood of Douirat a 

 correspondent of M. Lataste states that this deer is found in open country 

 where there is not a vestige of a tree. To the Moors it is known as the 

 alwassi. The possibility of the Spanish red deer belonging to this race has 

 been already mentioned. 



I have no information as to the habits of this race, which are, however, 

 doubtless generally similar to those of the typical form. 



d. Caspian Race — Cervus elaphus maral 



Cervus maral, Ogilby, Rep. Council Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 22 ; Sclater, 

 Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vii. p. 336 (1871) ; Gray, Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. 

 p. 69 (1872) ; Fitzinger, SB. Ak. Wien, vol. lxix. part i. p. 597 (1874) ; 

 Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 812 ; Satunin, Zool. 'Jahrb. Syst. vol. ix. 

 p. 309 (1896) ; Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 30 (1896). 



(?) Strongyloceros s pel ecus, Owen, Brit. Foss. Ma mm. and Birds, p. 469 

 (1846). 



(?) Cervus elaphus varius, Fitzinger, SB. Ak. Wien, vol. lxix. part i. 

 p. 574 (1874). 



Cervus elaphus antiqui, Pohlig, Paltzontographica, vol. xxxix. p. 246 

 (1892). 



Characters. — Size somewhat larger (the height at the shoulder reaching 

 to 4 feet 6 inches) than in the typical race of the species, the build stouter, 

 the neck thicker, and the head longer and more pointed. General colour 

 of summer pelage red, in immature animals frequently, if not invariably, 

 marked with numerous yellowish spots ; winter pelage dark slaty gray, with 

 the caudal disk a deeper yellow than in the typical race, and the shoulders, 



