This deterioration among the red deer of the forests of Central and Northern Europe is, however, not traceable among the red deer of the wild mountainous regions of Austria-Hungary and South-eastern Europe. Here, at the present day, stags of enormous size and weight are still to be found. In the Carpathian Alps, for example, red deer stags are still to be shot scaling more than 40 stone (clean) in weight. Climate and feeding have, of course, much to do with the weight of stags and the size and beauty of their antlers. The Carpathian stags have enormous range, rich food, and, as Mr. Baillie-Grohman points out, are suffered during the summer to "make undisturbed raids upon the rich agricultural valleys ... the feudal sway exercised by the great territorial magnates permitting the deer to trespass upon the crops with impunity, and thus grow to be the lustiest of their race."
In addition to the British Islands, the red deer of Europe is found on the island of Hitteren on the western coast of Norway, in the south of Sweden, and in Germany, Russia, France, Spain, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Greece.
Photo by W. P. Dando] [Regent's Park.
ALTAI WAPITI.
This is one of several Asiatic forms of the wapiti.
In Corsica and Sardinia a local and smaller race is found, probably closely allied to the stag of North Africa. The Barbary Stag is somewhat smaller than its first cousin of Europe, and carries antlers which usually lack the second, or bez, tine. The colour of this stag is "a dark sepia-brown, a little lighter and greyer on the back. Faint yellowish spots can occasionally be distinguished on the fur in the adults," says Sir Harry Johnston. The hinds are of the same colour as the stags, but lack the grey tint on the back. These fine deer are found in Algeria and Tunis, their habitat being chiefly in pine and cork forests. They are found also in parts of Morocco, near the frontiers of Algeria and Tunis, where their range extends from near the Mediterranean to the verge of the Sahara Desert. Formerly the Barbary stag was hunted by the Arabs on horseback by the aid of greyhounds. In Tunis, where it is protected by the French, it is now fairly abundant.
The Maral and Kashmir Stag.
The Caspian Red Deer, or Maral, is a magnificent sub-species, incomparably the finest representative of the red deer species. Standing about 4 feet 6 inches at the shoulder, a good stag will weigh as much as 40 stone clean, in exceptional specimens probably a good deal more. The range of this noble beast includes the Caspian provinces of North Persia, Transcaucasia, the Caucasus, and the Crimea. There can be little doubt that the great stags shot in the Galician Carpathians are Caspian red deer, and not the ordinary red deer of Western Europe. The red deer of Turkey is, too, no doubt referable to this sub-species.
Continuing our survey of typical deer, we come to the Kashmir Stag, which is a magnificent beast, standing as much as 4 feet 4 inches at the shoulder, and carrying antlers approaching the red deer type, which measure in fine specimens from 45 to 48 inches. The Kashmir stag, often miscalled Barasingh by Indian sportsmen, makes its home in the forest regions of the north side of the Kashmir Valley, ranging chiefly on altitudes of from 5,000 to 12,000 feet. The summer coat is rufous; in winter the pelage is of a darkish brown. The Yarkand stag is an apparently allied species, found in the forests bordering on the Yarkand or Tarim River.