l8 4 



Rusine Group 



hood of human beings and their habitations. When alarmed, the hinds 

 are the first to make a move, racing off with a number of long flying leaps, 

 very much after the manner of black buck ; after a short interval spent in 

 gazing, they are followed by the lord of the herd. In feeding, they both 

 graze and browse ; and after drinking sometime between eight and ten in 

 the morning, they repose in the deepest shade accessible till the sinking 

 sun proclaims it to be again time for wandering. As might be expected 

 from their partiality for water, chital are excellent swimmers, and in the 

 Sandarbans of Lower Bengal they may frequently be seen passing from one 



Fig. 50. — Male and Female Chital. From a photograph by the Duchess of Bedford. 



island or strip of land to another. In addition to a scream of alarm, these 

 deer utter a peculiar half-barking cry. As is the case with the sambar, 

 the shedding of the antlers is very irregular, stags with these appendages 

 fully developed being met with at all times of the year. This implies 

 corresponding irregularity in the breeding-season and the birth of the 

 fawns, and although most of the latter appear to come into the world 

 during the Indian cold season, some are produced at almost all times of the 

 year. In spite of the warmth of its native home, the chital flourishes 

 excellently in England, none of the deer at Woburn Abbey appearing in 

 better condition than the herd of this species. Here the time of shedding 



