By permission of the New York Zoological Society.
MULE-DEER STAG.
Shows the large blackish-brown patch on the forehead, so distinctive of the species.
The Brockets, of which seven species are found in South and Central America and Trinidad, are small deer, having spike-like antlers and tufted crowns. The largest is the Red Brocket, found in Guiana, Brazil, and Paraguay, which stands 27 inches at the shoulder. The body-colouring is brownish red. Like most of the group, this brocket is extremely shy; although fond of dense covert, it is found also on open campos. The Pygmy Brocket, a tiny dark brown deerlet, less than 19 inches in height, found in Central Brazil, is the smallest of these very small deer.
Two other diminutive deer, known as Pudus, closely allied to the brockets, are found in South America. These are the Chilian and Ecuador Pudus, of which the former is no more than 13½ inches in height, the latter about 14 or 15 inches. Little is known of the history and life habits of these charming little creatures, one of which, the Chilian species, has occasionally been seen in the Zoological Society's Gardens.
The Musk-deer.
This brief account of the deer of the world closes with the Musk-deer, which differ from almost all others of their kind—the Chinese water-deer being the sole exception—in the absence of antlers. In place of these defensive and offensive weapons, nature has provided the musk-deer with long canine tusks, projecting downwards from the upper jaw. The musk, from which these curious deer take their name, is secreted during the rutting-season—in the male only—in a pouch or gland contained in the skin of the stomach.
The well-known Himalayan Musk-deer is a stout, heavily made deer for its size, measuring 20 inches at the shoulder, about 2 inches higher at the rump, and having a coat of coarse, brittle hair of a dark brown colour. This musk-deer, which is nowadays by no means common, is found in the forests of the Himalaya, Tibet, Siberia, and Western China, often at altitudes of about 8,000 feet. These animals are extraordinary mountaineers, active, daring, and apparently quite unconscious of or indifferent to danger.
Another species, the Kansu Musk-deer, found in the province of Kansu, China, has only been discovered within the last ten years. Concerning this deer very little is at present known. In general characteristics it resembles its more familiar congener of the Himalaya.
A WORD should be said upon the subject of the acclimatisation of various members of the Deer Tribe in countries which are distant from their native ground, but in which they are found to thrive and breed, some with greater and some with less success. It will be seen that several of the illustrations in this chapter are taken from deer living in natural conditions at Woburn Abbey, the seat of the Duke of Bedford. Others were photographed out of doors in zoological parks or private menageries. There is a considerable degree of transferability among deer, not only among those found in temperate or northern regions, but also those which inhabit the tropical jungles of Southern India.