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Show 188 MAMMALIA. Th R · -Deer is confined to the glacial countries of both conti. e em d I! h · · nents, an d I· S the animal so highly celebrate tor t e services 1t ren d ers to th e Laplanders ' who have numerou.s herds .o f t.h em which in the summer they lead to the m_ountams, and m wmtet· bring back to the plains. They ~re their only beasts of burd~n and draught; their flesh and mtlk serve them for food, their skins for clothing, &c. C. d ama, L ., Buff.· VI ' xxvii and xxviii.. (The Fall.o w-Deer.) Less than the Stag; in winter of a blackish brown, m sum~er fawn coloured, spotted with white ; the buttocks always wh1te, bordered on each side with a black stripe; tail longer than the Stag's, black above, white underneath. The horn of the male is round at base, with a pointed antler, and throughout the rest of its length flattened, with the outer edge denticulated. After a certain age it shrinks, and splits irregularly into several slips. This species, which is the Platiceros of the ancients, has ~e.come very common in all Europe, although it seems to be origmally from Barbary.( I) A black variety without spots is sometimes to be found. Those species which have round antlers are more numerous ; such as inhabit temperate climates also change their colour, more or less, during the winter. C. elaphus, L.; Buff. VI, ix, x, xii. (The Common Stag.) A fawn coloured brown in summer, with a blackish line along the spine, and on each side a range of small light yellow spots.; in winter of a uniform greyish brown ; the crupper and tatl always of a pale yellow. It is a native of the forests of all Eu· rope, and of the temperate parts of Asia. The antlers ~f the male are round, and appear in the second year, at first s1mple, and then with tines or branches on their inner face, which in· crease in number as they advance in age, forming a kind of palm with many small points. When very old the Stag be· comes blackish, and the hairs on the neck lengthen and stand erect. The horns are shed in the spring, the old ones losing them first; they are reproduced in the summer, during the whole of which period they live separately. When they are grown again, the rutting season commences, at which period the males become furious. Both sexes unite in large herds to })ass the wintel'. The hind carries eight months, and brings forth in May. The fawn is spotted with white. C. tanadensis, Gm.; C. 8trongyloceros, Schreb. 246, A, 247, F, G; Wapiti, &c. (The Elk.) A fourth larger than the Elk ( 1) Since the publication of the seconded. of my Oss. Foss., we have received ~ wild C. 'lama, killed in the woods to the south of Tunis. RUMINANTIA. 189 of Europe, and nearly of the same colour, but the disk of the crupper broader and paler; the antlers equally round, but more developed, and without a palm. Inhabits all the temperate parts of North America. C. virginianua, Gm.; Schreb. CCXL VII, H. (The Virginia Deer.) Less than the Fallow Deer of Europe, and of a more graceful figure ; the muzzle more pointed; of a light fawn colour in summer, reddish·grey in winter; the under part of the throat and tail white at all times; inferior third of the tail black with a white tip. The horns of the male, shorter than in the Eu· ropean species, are round, smooth, whitish, and bend outwards, forming an arc of a circle inwards and forwards ; the tines are inserted into their posterior face, that at the base excepted; they sometimes amount to five or six. ( 1) The species inhabiting warm climates do not change their colour, There are several of these in South America, of which we have as yet no complete account, nor sufficiently compara· tive characters. Such are C. paludosus, Desm.; Gauzou.Poucou, or Great Red Stag, Azz. It appears to have straighter horns than the preceding; skin of a bright bay, with a black stripe on the forehead, and black rings round the point of the feet. It prefers marshy grounds. C. campestria, Fr. Cuv.; Guazouti, Azz. Antlers short and straight, with tines front and back, which become numerous (Oss. Foss. IV, pl. iii, f. 46-48); fawn coloured; belly, inner sides of the thighs, buttocks and tip of the tai1, white.(2) There are also several in the East Indies. C. axis,L.; Buff. XI, xxxviii, xxxix. (The Indian Stag or Axis.) Fawn coloured at all times, spotted with pure white; under part <lf the throat and that of the tail white; tail fawn coloured, edged above with white; round antlers, which become very large with age, but which never have more than one tine near the base, and the point forked. Originally from Bengal, but propagating easily in Europe. It was known to the Romans. Several other Stags with two tines like the Axis are found in India, which have been distinguished but lately. There is one of them, C . .IJ.ristotelis, Cuv., which has long hairs on the neck and 0 (I} See my Oss. Foss. IV, pl. v, f. 1-17. The Oervus mexicanus, Penn., and ss. Foss. pl. v, f. 23, may have been a very old Virginia Stag. Edj Add Cervus nemoralis, llam. Smith. [Add . also Oerv. macrotia, Say. .Om. |