Deer

a beautiful and well-known quadruped, distinguished from the antelopes by their horns being solid and deciduous, that is, falling off annually, and again renewed of a larger size than in the preceding year. These horns or antlers always exist on the head of the male, and sometimes on that of the female. The moose or elk is perhaps the only deer whose general appearance ean be called ungraceful, or whose proportions at first sight impre the beholder unfavorably. Its large head terminates in a square muzzle, having the nostrils protruded over the sides of the mouth; the neck which is furnished with a short, thick mane, is not longer than the head, which, in the males, is rendered still more cumbrous and unwieldy by large palmated horns; under the throat is an excrescence, from which i ues a tuft of long hair; the body which is short and thick, is mounted on tall legs, giving a very ungainly aspect to the animal, which is not diminished when it is in motion, as its gait is a sort of shambling trot, very efficient, however, from the great length of its limbs. The moose inhabits the N. parts of both America and ie The reindeer is spread over all the habitable parts of the Arctic regions and the neighboring countries, in Europe being found in Norway and Sweden, more especially in Finmark and Lapland, in Northern Ru ia, nearly the whole of Siberia, and in North America as far S. as the latitude of Quebec. It occurs also in Spitz bergen, Green land, and Newfoundland. They have long been domesticated, and their appearance and -habits have been frequently described. Their size varies much according to the locality, those in the more polar regions being the largest; GO and 400 pounds are said to be the extremes of weight. In winter the hair is grayish brown, in summer dark sooty brown. The American reindeer, or caribou, is le perfectly known; it has, however, so strong a resemblance in form and manners to the Lapland deer that it has always been considered to be a variety of the same species. The American Indians have never profited by the docility of this animal to aid them in transporting their families and property, though they annually destroy great numbers for their flesh and hides. There appear to be several varieties of this useful quadruped peculiar to the high N. regions of the American continent. The Virginia deer is found in all parts of North America, up to 43° N. latitude. Its color varies with the season. In spring it is reddish-brown, in autumn slaty-blue, and in winter dull-brown. It is good hunting and pating.: The stag or red deer is a native of the temperate portions of Europe and Asia. An American representative of the European stag is the wapiti or Canada stag. This deer is at the shoul- Jer from 4 feet 4 to 4 feet 8 inches, the superiority of bulk appearing | ehiefly in the magnitude of the body. [The wapiti lives in herds, varying in number from 10 or 20 up to several hundreds. They feed on gra , the voung sprouts of trees, lichens, and in summer on aquatic plants which they seek while sheltering themselves in the water from the bites of flies. They 1re good swimmers and swift runners, throwing their heads back so that the horns touch their shoulders as they bound through the forest. The fallow deer is smaller than the stag, being about 3 feet high at the shoulder, and is easily distinguished from it by its spotted coat, longer tail, and palmated horns. Fallow deer are indigenous to Southern and Central Europe and Asia, but in Great Britain they exist only in a semi-wild state. The roebuck is common enough in the northern half of Scotland, but in the rest of the island is rare. It is smaller than the fallow deer, being about 2 feet 3 inches at the shoulder, and its horns are comparatively small and little branched. The color is bright reddish in summer, the under parts white.