54 



GREAT GAME ANIMALS. 



above and on the sides with black. The group includes the 

 Japanese Deer (C. sika, 1275) and its larger variety the Man- 

 churian Deer (C. sika manchuricus, 1276) ; the still larger 

 Pekin Deer (C. hortulorum, 1277) ; and the Formosan Deer 

 (0. taevanus, 1278), which is not larger than the Japanese species, 

 but retains, in accordance with its tropical habitat, the spots 

 throughout the year. A specimen of a race of C. sika (1276 X) 

 inhabiting the Liu-Kiu Islands is shown. The hairs of the white 

 rump-patch are expanded under the influence of excitement to 

 form a large white rosette. Most of the specimens were pre- 

 sented by the Duke of Bedford. 



Fa!Sow~Beer. ^ ne European Fallow-Deer (Cervus dama, 1279) and 

 Subgenus the Persian Fallow-Deer [Cervus me s op ot amicus, 

 Dama. 1286) form a group or subgenus {Dama) of the genus 

 [Cases C, Cervus, readily characterised by the spotted summer coat and the 

 and 60.] flattened and expanded (palmated) antlers of the bucks. Although 

 the common species is now extensively kept in English parks, it 

 appears to have been originally introduced from the countries 

 bordering the Mediterranean, where it is still found locally in a 

 wild state. The spots are present only in the summer coat, as is 

 the case in all Deer of temperate climates, in which the spotting 

 is to accord with the speckled shade thrown by trees when in leaf. 

 In tropical spotted Deer, on the other hand, the spots are permanent. 

 There is a park-breed of Fallow-Deer which has a uniform and very 

 dark-coloured coat at all seasons. The Persian Fallow-Deer, 

 which inhabits the mountains of Luristan, has antlers of a different 

 type (fig. 42), and is also distinguished by certain details in colour. 



Extinct ^ e ex ^ mc ^ Irish Deer, Cervus giganteus (1281);, although 

 Irish commonly termed the Irish Elk, is a member of the genus 

 6 eer - Cervus, as is shown by the antlers of the males, which rise 

 at an oblique angle to the middle line of the forehead, instead of at 

 right angles to the same, as in the Elk. By many naturalists it is 

 believed to be allied to the Fallow-Deer, with which it is connected 

 by an extinct species from the superficial deposits of Germany, 

 known as Cervus ruffi, in which the antlers have a more upright 

 direction. Although the best-preserved remains are obtained from 

 Ireland, this splendid species is by no means confined to that 

 island, but also occurs in England, as well as a large part of the 



