116 UNGULATA. 
in any of the specimens collected between Guatemala and Panama; but I have seen 
specimens from Mexico and Texas with eight and ten tines; and one splendid specimen 
collected by Mr. Dresser near Friedrichsburg in Texas has as many as fifteen. The 
Texan Deer are decidedly larger than those inhabiting Guatemala, Nicaragua, and 
Panama” 13, No better proof of the complete gradation of these varieties can be given 
than the fact that zoologists do not know to which form the Texan Deer should be 
referred: Professor Baird treated them as C. virginianus, placing the geographical 
limit of the species near the United-Sates and Mexican Boundary?; while Sir Victor 
Brooke regards them as C. meaicanus and moves the line of demarcation to the River 
Missouri !*! Of the other names quoted in the synonymy, there can be little doubt of 
the correctness of Sir Victor’s reference of Hamilton-Smith’s Cervus nemoralis to 
the present species; and it appears to me to be more than probable that the Venado 
cuernicabra of the Mexican hunters, to which. M. de Saussure gave the provisional name 
of C. capricornis ®, is merely founded on individual varieties of C. virginianus with 
simple antlers, similar to forms which are well known in other species of Deer. 
The Virginian Deer seems to be regularly distributed and far from uncommon in 
Central America. Dr. Kennerly remarks that in Northern Mexico it is particularly 
numerous, both in the valleys and among the. mountains, especially in the neighbour- 
hood of Santa Cruz®; and M. de Saussure says that it is very common in all the wooded 
parts of the Republic 1°. 
In Guatemala Messrs. Salvin and Godman found this Deer nearly everywhere they 
went. They inform me that “It is not only widely distributed over the country, but 
has also a great range in altitude where it finds suitable localities. A shed horn, partly 
nibbled, was picked up by us in the extinct crater of the peak of the Volcan de Fuego, 
called Acatenango, at an elevation of over 13,000 feet above the sea; and traces of Deer 
were not unfrequently seen on the grassy pine-clad slopes of the mountain, down to a 
height of 10,000 feet where the dense forest-zone commences. On the open pastures of 
Calderas (7000 feet) this species is not uncommon ; and we frequently met with it in the 
neighbourhood of Duefias, especially during the dry season, when Deer would come to 
drink in the river or the outfall of the Lake of Duefias. The Indians of this district 
often hunt them at this time of year on Sundays or feast days. ‘The active male popu- 
lation of a village, with curs of every degree, turn out on such an occasion, and after 
finding a Deer they hunt it over hill and plain till the animal is fairly run down and 
killed. Often a whole morning is occupied in the pursuit ; but the Indians, accustomed 
as they are to long journeys on foot carrying heavy loads, never tire, and seldom fail to 
secure their prey. Indians who have guns also secure Deer by lying in wait at the pools 
of water which they frequent. 
“In other parts of Guatemala Deer are equally common, as at San Gerdénimo and 
_ elsewhere in Vera Paz; but perhaps they were nowhere more abundant than at Hua- 
muchal, near the Pacific Ocean, close to the Mexican frontier. A day here seldom 
passed without one or more being seen. 
