Part 13

CERVUS CAMPESTRIS.

Cervus campestris, F. Cuvier, in Dict. des Sc. Nat. VII. p. 484.

——, Cuvier Oss. Foss. IV. p. 51. Pl. 3. f. 46.

Guazuti, Azara, “Natural History of the Quadrupeds of Paraguay.” W. P. Hunter’s translation, vol. i. p. 135.

——, French translation, vol. i. p. 77.

Besides skins of this species of stag, I find, in Mr. Darwin’s collection, three pairs of horns, which, together with a pair belonging to one of the skins, constitute a sufficiently complete series to illustrate the different forms which these appendages assume, as the animal increases in size.

The above four sketches, which are all drawn to the same scale, will help to convey a clear idea of the forms, and relative proportions, of these horns.

The most simple horn (fig. 1.) consists of a beam, eight and a half inches long, which is slightly arched outwards and considerably compressed about two and a half inches from the apex. At one inch from the base there is a small brow antler which projects forwards and upwards.

In the next horn, (fig. 2.) there is the same small brow antler, but there is a single small snag, about equal in size to the brow antler, which is directed backwards and upwards, and is situated at three and a quarter inches from the apex of the beam. The total length of the beam is eight inches, measured in a straight line.

The third pair of horns, (fig. 3.) which must have belonged to an animal considerably older than either of the preceding pairs, exhibits a large brow antler, in length exceeding half that of the beam: here the posterior snag is also large, and is directed backwards and upwards, whilst the apical portion of the beam is directed forward about as much as the snag is directed backwards. The total length of this horn is eleven and a half inches, measured in a straight line.

The last figure (No. 4.) represents the horn of one of the specimens of which an entire skin was brought over. This horn differs only from the last in being slightly larger, and in having two additional small snags, one springing from the under side, and near the apex, of the brow antler, and the other springing from the hinder part, and near the apex of the great posterior snag.

“The Spaniards say they can distinguish how old a deer is by the number of the branches on the horns. They affirmed that the specimen, of which figure 4 represents one of the horns, was nine years old. It certainly was a very old one, as all its teeth were decayed. This specimen was killed at Maldonado, in the middle of June; another specimen was killed at Bahia Blanca, (about three hundred and sixty miles southward,) in the month of October, with the hairy skin on the horns: there were others, however, whose horns were free from skin. At this time of the year, many of the does had just kidded. I was informed, by the Spaniards, that this deer sheds its horns every year.

“The Cervus campestris is exceedingly abundant throughout the countries bordering the Plata. It is found in Northern Patagonia as far south as the Rio Negro, (Lat. 41°); but, further southward, none were seen by the officers employed in surveying the coast. It appears to prefer a hilly country; I saw very many small herds, containing from five to seven animals each, near the Sierra Ventana, and among the hills north of Maldonado. If a person, crawling close along the ground, slowly advances towards a herd, the deer frequently approach, out of curiosity, to reconnoitre him. I have by this means killed, from one spot, three out of the same herd. Although thus so tame and inquisitive, yet, when approached on horseback, they are exceedingly wary. In this country nobody goes on foot, and the deer knows man as its enemy, only when he is mounted, and armed with the bolas. At Bahia Blanca, a recent establishment in Northern Patagonia, I was surprised to find how little the deer cared for the noise of a gun: one day, I fired ten times, from within eighty yards, at one animal, and it was much more startled at the ball cutting up the ground, than at the report.

“The most curious fact, with respect to this animal, is the overpoweringly strong and offensive odour which proceeds from the buck. It is quite indescribable: several times, whilst skinning the specimen, which is now mounted at the Zoological Museum, I was almost overcome by nausea. I tied up the skin in a silk pocket-handkerchief, and so carried it home: this handkerchief, after being well washed, I continually used, and it was, of course, as repeatedly washed; yet every time, when first unfolded, for a space of one year and seven months, I distinctly perceived the odour. This appears an astonishing instance of the permanence of some matter, which in its nature, nevertheless, must be most subtile and volatile. Frequently, when passing at the distance of half a mile to leeward of a herd, I have perceived the whole air tainted with the effluvium. I believe the smell from the buck is most powerful at the period when its horns are perfect, or free from the hairy skin. When in this state the meat is, of course, quite uneatable; but the Spaniards assert, that if buried for some time in fresh earth, the taint is removed. These deer generally weigh about sixty or seventy pounds.”—D.

FAMILY—MURIDÆ.

1. MUS DECUMANUS. Mus decumanus, Auctorum.

In the extensive collection of Rodent animals brought home by Mr. Darwin, I find several specimens of the above named species, that is to say, animals which resemble the European specimens of Mus Decumanus in all those characters which are the least liable to variation in individuals of the same species, such as the proportions which the various parts of the animal bear to each other: they differ, however, somewhat in colouring.

Buenos Ayres, Maldonado, Valparaiso, East Falkland Island, and Keeling Island, are each, it appears, infested with the common European rat. I have now before me two specimens from East Falkland Island, and one specimen from each of the other localities, and among these I find none equal in size to the largest European specimens: as regards the colouring, the Buenos Ayres specimen differs only from the English specimens of Mus Decumanus, in having the upper parts of a richer and deeper hue, owing to the tips of the shorter hairs being of a deep yellow instead of pale yellow, and in having a rusty tint over the haunches.

Mr. Darwin found this variety “common about houses in the country around Buenos Ayres.”

In the Maldonado variety, the shorter hairs of the upper parts of the body are of a rusty yellow colour at the apex, in other respects it resembles the British variety. The rusty yellow colour of the tips of the hairs produces a general reddish hue, which is the more conspicuous, when the animal is placed near an English specimen. “Was caught in a house, at Maldonado. I saw a specimen of the common gray English, or Norway rat, lying dead in the streets, and it certainly had a very different appearance from these red rats. The latter, I saw crawling about the hedges in the interior provinces at Santa Fé, and likewise in the forest of the island of Chiloe. This latter fact, however, is a strong argument against its being aboriginal, since I did not find even one undoubted American species, out of the many which I collected, inhabiting both sides of the Cordillera.”—D.

The specimen from Valparaiso very closely resembles that from Maldonado; it is, perhaps, a little less red. “Common about the houses in the town of Valparaiso.”

The two specimens from East Falkland are of a brighter hue, and have less gray in their colouring, than in the European variety of the common rat. “One of them was caught in a Bay, which is sometimes frequented by shipping, but which is distant thirty or forty miles from any habitation. These rats have spread, not only over the whole of East and West Falkland, but even on some of the outlying islets. When the cold, wet, and gloomy nature of the climate is considered, it is surprising that these animals should be able to find food to live on.”—D.

The general hue of the Keeling Island specimen, is deep brown, the longer hairs of the upper parts of the body being, as usual, black; but the shorter hairs, instead of having the pale yellow tint which we observe in the European, (or, rather, British) specimens of Mus Decumanus, are of a deep, rusty yellow. The most remarkable difference, however, consists in the colouring of the under parts being of a yellowish tint, and, towards the root of the tail, of a very distinct buff yellow: the feet are brownish.

“This rat is exceedingly numerous on some of the low coral islets forming the margin of the Lagoon of Keeling Island, in the Indian Ocean. The climate is dry and hot. The rats are known to have come in a vessel from the Mauritius, which was wrecked on one of the islets, which is now called Rat Island. They appeared stunted in their growth, and many of them were mangy. They are supposed to live chiefly on cocoa-nuts, and any animal matter the sea may chance to throw up. They have not any fresh water; but the milk of the cocoa-nut would supply its place.”—D.

The principal dimensions of the above animals are as follows:—

Specimen from Buenos Ayres Maldonado. Valparaiso. In. Lines. In. Lines. In. Lines. Length from nose to root of tail 9 9 9 3 8 6 of tail Imperfect 6 0 6 6 of tarsus 1 7 1 7 1 7

East East Keeling Falkland. Falkland. Island. In. Lines. In. Lines. In. Lines. Length from nose to root of tail 8 9 9 0 8 3 of tail Imperfect 6 0 6 6 of tarsus 1 7 1 7 1 7

Upon comparing the skull of the Valparaiso variety with that of a British specimen of Mus decumanus, I could perceive no difference. A skull from West Falkland did not differ, neither did the dentition of the Keeling Island specimen above noticed. A perfect specimen of this last I have not had an opportunity of examining.