ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 
69 
jects forwards more or less at a right angle from the beam, 
being sometimes forked and at other times producing 
little tines along its upper surface. The beam, about its 
upper half, divides into two strong upper tines which have 
subordinate tines developed from them by bifurcation. 
The young of these deer are spotted. The most familiar 
example of this sub-genus is the deer just mentioned, 
sometimes known as the Swamp-deer, or as the Barasingha, 
from the circumstance that each antler has generally six 
well developed tines. It is a large animal, with a long 
elegant head. The changes of colour and also of tempera¬ 
ment which this deer manifests are highly interesting, 
both having reference to the rutting season when the 
horns have become fully matured. It sheds its horns 
about the months of March or April, and after this 
the colour changes from a sandy-brown to the beautiful 
reddish-fawn of the female, and its temperament also 
assumes the mild character of the female. The change is 
very marked, as, when the male has his horns, he is exces¬ 
sively fierce and even dangerous, using them to tear 
down his house, or violently charging at the enclosing rail¬ 
ing, if any one approaches him, and pawing the ground 
restlessly with his fore-feet. He also employs his time in 
digging with his horns, holes in the ground in which 
he lies, covering himself with mud. It is only during 
this period that' he makes his voice heard, and a very 
loud and unmusical voice it is, being a combination of 
the bray of an ass and the squeaking grinding 
sound of a native oil-press. This deer is confined to 
swampy localities on the banks of the Indus, in the Hima¬ 
layan Terai, Orissa, Maldah, and Assam, and in certain 
limited districts of Central India. 
