35 8 
UNGULATES. 
man to the same degree as Bos gaums does, it is only common in wild tracts of 
country. It comes out on the grass slopes, where such exist, as in the Nilgiris and 
other liill-ranges, to graze, but always takes refuge in the woods. It is but rarely 
found associating in any numbers; both stags and hinds are often found singly, 
but small herds from four or five to a dozen in number are commonly met with. 
Its habits are nocturnal; it may be seen feeding in the morning and evening, but 
it grazes chiefly at night, and at that time often visits small patches of cultivation 
in the half-cleared tracts, returning for the day to wilder parts, and often ascending 
hills to make a lair in grass amongst trees, where it generally selects a spot well 
shaded from the sun’s rays. It feeds on grass, especially the green grass near 
water, and various wild fruits of which it is very fond, but it also browses greatly 
on shoots and leaves of trees. It drinks, I believe, daily, though Mr. Sterndale 
doubts this; it certainly travels long distances to its drinking-places at times.” 
As regards the date of the pairing-season and the time of shedding the antlers, 
there appears to be even a still greater amount of variation than is the case with 
the chital; and it is stated on good authority that stags have been known to retain 
their antlers for two or more years. It appears, however, that in peninsular India 
the pairing-season usually takes place in October and November, although in the 
Himalaya it occurs in the spring. Similarly, while in the former area the antlers 
are most frequently shed in March, in the latter the shedding-time is deferred for a 
month later. Usually there is but one fawn at a birth. 
During the pairing-season sarnbar assemble in large numbers, and at that time 
the old stags utter at morning and evening, and sometimes in the night, loud roar¬ 
ings, which have been described as a “ metallic-sounding bellow.” 
Sarnbar are very tenacious of life, and require a well-placed bullet to bring 
them to the ground. They are usually either stalked or driven by a line of beaters ; 
but Sir Samuel Baker, when in Ceylon, was in the habit of hunting them with 
hounds, and giving the coup-de-grace with a knife. Describing his experiences in 
that country, Sir Samuel writes that “ we never drove the jungles with beaters, but 
simply strolled through the most promising country, either upon ponies or on foot, 
and took our chance of any game that we might meet. I rarely met sarnbar in the 
low country; and when living on the mountains at Newera Ellia, 6200 feet above 
the sea, shooting was out of the question. Although the interminable forests of 
that elevated district abounded with these animals, I have never seen one, unless 
discovered by the hounds. The jungles are thick, and it is impossible to get through 
them without noise and considerable exertion. The animals of course are alarmed, 
and retreat before you are near enough to hear their rush. I have often taken my 
rifle and sallied out before sunrise upon the wild (open ground), where 
nature rested in profound solitude; but I have never seen a sarnbar in the 
open.” 
The hunting was conducted with a mixed pack of about fourteen couple of 
hounds of various breeds, which were found better suited to this kind of sport than 
pure-bred foxhounds; and the pack was always directed to the neighbourhood of 
a stream, where the scent would be freshest, as the sarnbar drinks before retiring 
to the densest depths of the jungle, in order to enjoy its day’s repose. The speed 
of the sarnbar is, according to Mr. Blanford, but very moderate; and on the rare 
