THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
As a matter of fact native shikaris attempt to imitate the call with a pair 
of gun barrels when they are handy. The call of a European stag is much 
more a yawning roar, ending in a succession of deep grunts. 
The Kansu deer, in spite of its wapiti -like antlers, is a relative of the 
Kashmir hangul, as is the Szechuan C. macneilli. Both these deer utter a 
call more resembling a roar than a bugle, though I have heard the former 
give the suspicion of a bugle at the end of the call. In other words, their 
cry is to some extent, as Mr Lydekker has pointed out, intermediate 
between that of a red deer and a wapiti. It would add greatly to our 
knowledge if sportsmen and travellers in unknown regions of Central 
Asia, who have opportunities of doing so, would carefully note the rutting 
call of any deer they encounter. 
Mr Charles Howard Bury has kindly sent me the following notes on the 
Tian Shan wapiti: 
“ Their favourite food seems to be willow leaves, both green and 
when dead on the ground. They break off whole branches and eat them. 
They are scattered all over the country and in the most unexpected 
places. I have met with them miles away from any trees and near 
glaciers. I came across them several times when after ibex and close 
to ibex ground. Their horns are in velvet till about August 25, when 
they seem to go back again into the willow thickets, only showing 
themselves in the open at sunrise and sunset. They are very timid, 
and one shot fired in the valley will drive every animal out of it. I 
never saw a stag with more than six hinds during the rutting season, 
the average number being three or four. At that time of year their 
skins are very oily, as the pores seem to exude some kind of brown 
oil. I am told they start calling about the beginning of September, 
though this varies with the season, and continue for about a month. 
I have found shed wapiti horns at over 13,000 feet.” 
Owing to the roughness of the ground they inhabit the sportsman can 
only hope to obtain a shot at a small percentage of those stags which he 
sees and hears calling. I only know one man who, as he puts it, 
“ has been foolish enough to hunt wapiti in the Tian Shan in mid- 
winter, late December and early January. At that season in all the 
lower forests and valleys the snow lies very deep, to avoid which the 
wapiti move up to the top edge of the timber, where it begins to thin 
out. Here the wind keeps the exposed parts pretty clear of snow and 
they can either scratch through to the grass or feed on the twigs of 
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