CARIACUS VIRGINIANUS. 123 



had killed ; and what I have already stated may serve to show how 

 very liable all are to be misled in relation to a point, upon a certain 

 knowledge of which the whole question depends." ::: 



The only exception, that has come to my knowledge, to the rule 

 that Spike -horn bucks are always yearlings, is a case that fell under 

 the observation of Mr. E. L. Sheppard : A very old buck, with much 

 gray about its head, was killed in Queer Lake about ten years ago. 

 In addition to its extreme age, it had but three legs and was, conse- 

 quently, ill-conditioned, having been unable to procure sufficient 

 food. It carried a pair of spike-horns which differed from those of 

 yearling bucks in being much thicker at the base, rougher, more 

 warty, and deeply wrinkled for some distance above the burr. This 

 apparent exception is an illustration of two general laws : (a] that in 

 extreme age there is a tendency for certain parts to revert to a con- 

 dition resembling that of early life; and (6} that ill-nourished bucks 

 bear stunted and more or less imperfect horns. It is a well-known 

 fact that the largest, handsomest, and most perfect antlers come from 

 middle-aged Deer that have wintered well and are in fine con- 

 dition; while the few-pronged and unsymmetrical ones are grown by 

 young or very old animals, or by those that have been wounded or 

 from other cause are poor and ill-conditioned. f 



All yearlings do not have true spike-horns, and, if the term be 

 made to include all unbranched antlers, I am strongly of the opinion 

 that two-year old bucks sometimes grow them. I have a pair of un- 

 branched antlers that are curved both inward and forward, and are 

 of exceptional length, the separate horns measuring respectively ten 

 and a half and eleven inches (or 267 and 2/9mm.) over the curve, and 



* Antelope and Deer of America, pp. 231-232. 



f Through the kindness of the well-known guide, Mr. E. L. Sheppard, I possess a specimen of 

 unusual interest that well illustrates this point. The buck, which was an adult, was killed at Big 

 Moose Lake, September 10, iSSo, and its horns are imperfect, asymmetrical, and very scraggy. 

 The animal was lank and thin, and was found to lie a cripple. Its left humerus had once been 

 broken and the fragments had united at a right angle, so that the fore-leg was directed forward, and 

 the shortening of the humerus was so great (its greatest length being less than six and a half inches, 

 or, exactly, 164111111.) that the foot could not be made to touch the ground. 



9 



