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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and arrow. The flesh of the prong-horn in autumn, when it is in the 

 best condition, is good food, especially if the animal be young. 



In May and June the prong-horn brings forth two fawns, which 

 are of a dun-color, and not spotted like the fawns of the deer. For 

 these the mother displays great affection, and defends them with vigor 

 aeainst the attacks of enemies. She is sometimes able to beat off 

 even the wolf; but not always, and hence many of these little creatures 

 are annually destroyed by this hungry animal. The prong-horn, when 

 taken young, is easily tamed. The writer has seen a tame one. It 

 was thoroughly domesticated, and, whatever its wanderings during the 

 day, it returned to the farm-house at night. It allowed itself to be 

 freely handled, even by strangers. It followed the children as they 

 went to school, and then returned to its home again, alone ; all show- 

 ing how easily it can be added to the stock of domestic animals of the 



farm. 



Our other species of antelope looks so much like a goat that it has 



been named the mountain-goat [Aplocerus montamts, Fig. 6). It is 



about the size of the domestic sheep, and has small, round, slightly 



Fig. 6. Mountain-Goat (Aplocerus montanus). 



recurved horns, which are ringed at the base, and which are jet-black 

 in color, and polished, and are much like those of the chamois; the 

 body is covered with long, white hair, and there is a long pendent 

 tuft of hair under the chin. This antelope lives on the rugged por- 

 tions of the Rocky Mountains, and seldom descends into the plains. 

 It leaps from crag to crag, much after the manner of the chamois of 

 the Alps, and in many portions of the mountains is secured with great 

 difficulty. The flesh of this species is rather dry, and is not so highly 

 prized as that of the other animals described in this article. It may 

 be added here that the hair, or covering of the body, is of two kinds, 

 the one being long and straight, and the other, which forms a thick, 

 close under-coat, being a sort of fine silk-like wool. 



