150 Rusine Group 



inflict frightful gashes with the long brow-tines of their antlers ; but in 

 captivity thev are dangerous to approach. In addition to the pairing-call, 

 sambar utter a hissing kind of snort, frequently accompanied by a stamp of 

 the toot, when alarmed by the presence of a leopard or tiger, or the approach 

 of a human being. 



The fawns in the plains of India are born during June and July, and it 

 is but seldom that more than one is produced at a birth. As already said, 

 they are entirely without spots. 



Although extremely active, and capable of rushing down the steep side 

 of a rocky cliff with great rapidity, sambar in the open display only a 

 moderate degree of speed, and can be ridden down with comparative ease 

 by a well-mounted man. They are, however, difficult to kill, and will 

 carry wounds that would be fatal to many others of their kindred. Although 

 coarse-grained, the flesh is well flavoured. 



A large herd of sambar of various races is kept at Woburn Abbey, 

 where they flourish well, although apt to get out of condition during the 

 winter. The secret of success seems to be that they are kept in large open 

 paddocks, devoid of covert. In Ireland, where they were tried some years 

 ago by Lord Powerscourt, they were allowed to wander in the park, but 

 failed to thrive. " It was a curious thing with the sambar deer," writes his 

 lordship, 1 " and it was no doubt the cause of their death, that they would 

 never come out of the thickets in the daytime. They unfortunately could 

 not be taught that Ireland has not a tropical climate, and they used to skulk 

 in the thickest covert they could find, out of the sun, all day, and only 

 came out to feed at night, as they would in the jungles of Mysore, where I 

 have seen them pursuing the same tactics. Of course by this unnecessary 

 precaution on their part against the meridian rays they got chilled through, 

 and eventually died." At Woburn sambar may be seen feeding at all hours 

 of the day in the open. 



h. Malayan Race — Cervus unicolor equinus 



Cervus equina s, Cuvier, Ossemens Fossiles, ed. 2, vol. iv. p. 45 (1823) ; 

 Brooke, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1878, p. 901 ; Gunther, ibid. 1880, p. 452 ; Ward, 

 Records of Big Game, p. 7 (1896). 



1 Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1884, p. 208. 



