BORNEO RUSINE DEER.
The species is not a native of Britain, having most certainly been introduced, although exactly when is not known. The dark-coloured and more hardy breed was brought from Norway by James I. Its true wild habitat was probably the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, both north and south.
The PERSIAN FALLOW DEER,[33] so closely related to the species just referred to that they breed together, was made known to us in 1875 by Sir Victor Brooke, who described it from specimens sent to England by Mr. Robertson, the British Vice-Consul at Busrah. It resembles the Common Fallow Deer in almost every detail, except that it is slightly larger, and that the antlers are not the same. As stated above, in the Common Fallow Deer the antlers, whilst developed on the sub-elaphine type, are palmated in the region of the royals, with several snags projecting from the upper margin, at the same time that the lower portion of the beam, the tres, and the brow-tynes are cylindrical, as usually is the case in other species.
AXIS DEER.
⇒
LARGER IMAGE
In the Persian Fallow the palmation at the extremity of the antlers is much less conspicuous, and scarcely exists, although many snags are present there, directed upwards. The palmation is at the bases of the antlers instead, including the brow-tyne and the beam, so that the general appearance of the antlers is quite peculiar to the species.
THE RUSINE DEER.[34]