13^ The Irish Naturalist. Oct.--Nov., 



skulls, whereas in the Swedish skulls it averages 60 mill, 

 by 2^ mill. One of the main differences between the 

 Irish and Scottish as compared with the Norwegian skulls 

 lies in the shape of the nasal bones. They are flattened 

 in the Norwegian skulls according to Prof. Lonnberg (9). 

 In the Irish and Scottish skulls they are curved, forming 

 a longitudinal ridge from the tip to the base and being 

 well visible when the skull is looked at laterally. In 

 the other hand Dr. Stejneger (8) maintains that an adult 

 male Norwegian skull in the United States National Museum 

 agrees with the Irish and Scottish skulls in the possession 

 of very convex nasal bones, and in his opinion (p. 464) the 

 Scottish and Norwegian deer belong to the same race or 

 geographic subspecies called by Prof. Lonnberg Cervus 

 elaphiis atlanticus. 



We need not enter here into the interesting speculations 

 concerning the origin of the Norwegian deer raised by Dr. 

 Stejneger. One of the objects of my investigations was 

 to show that the modern Irish Red Deer were the true 

 descendants of the ancient Irish stock. Although I have 

 been unable to prove this point by a comparative study 

 of the skulls it is extreme^ unlikely that the Old Irish Red 

 Deer became entirely extinct in Ireland and had to be 

 reintroduced from England, ^^^e have learned from this 

 study that there exists a close relationship between the 

 Irish, Scotch, and Norw^egian Red Deer. They belong 

 to the same sub-species, whereas the Swedish Red Deer 

 is sufficiently distinct to form a separate w^ell-recognisable 

 race. 



There is one other point which deserves to be mentioned 

 about the Irish Red Deer, viz., the colour of its fur, which 

 never can be called red. It varies from yellowish brown 

 in summer to greyish bro\N-n in winter, whereas the 

 continental form is generally more distinctly reddish brown 

 in colour. 



As regards the antlers of the typical European Red Deer 

 they terminate in a cup. This cupping in the crown of 

 the antler seems to become simplified gradually as we 

 proceed eastward where we meet with Deer which resemble 

 Red Deer but are practicall}^ identical in their antler 



