VOL. XI, PP. 271-275 DECEMBER 17, 1897 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



CERVUS ROOSEVELTI, A NEW ELK FROM THE 

 OLYMPICS. 



BY C. HART MERRIAM. 





For many y'ears naturalists have known of the presence of 

 Elk in the Olympic Mountains and other ranges along the Pa 

 cific coast, but until recently no specimen, so far as I am aware, 

 has found its way to any museum. When in the Olympic 

 Mountains last August I arranged with two trappers who had 

 established a winter camp in the deep canyon of Hoh River, at 

 the north foot of Mt. Olympus, to secure specimens as soon as 

 the animals had put on the winter coat. The first of these a 

 fine old bull with massive antlers has now arrived and is safely 

 installed in our National Museum. 



Dr. J. G. Cooper, in his report on the Mammals of the 47th 

 and 49th Parallels, published in 1860, states that the Elk was 

 abundant in the dense forests of the Coast Range, and adds : 

 "An intelligent farmer, who formerly hunted Elk in New York 

 State, told me that he considered these a different animal, being 

 much larger and having larger and differently formed horns." * 

 In the same volume Geo. Gibbs states that " Judge Ford, long a 

 settler in Washington Territory and an enthusiastic hunter, says 

 that the Elk of the Pacific coast is not the Elk of the ' plains,' 

 but has a larger and coarser head. He has been through life fa 

 miliar with game and is positive that they are different animals." f 

 John Keast Lord, in his ' Naturalist in Vancouver Island and Brit 

 ish Columbia,' published in London in 1866, says : " The Wapiti 

 on the Oregon coast grows much larger, and differs in color from 

 the animal found on the inland mountains. 1 ' Dr. James C. Mer- 



* Pacific Railroad Reports, Vol. XII, Pt. II, p. 88, 1860. 

 flbid., p. 133. 

 61-BioL. Soc. WASH., Vo*. XI, 1897 (271) 



