Rural School Leaflet 



1235 



i^.',^\.-:..-. 



Mule 



of the world have developed most of the breeds of horses, and all of the 

 breeds of donkeys. 



VIRGINL\ DEER 



A. H. Wright 



Virginia deer are about six feet in length and stand three feet high. 

 Their general color in summer is bright rufous chestnut, with a dark 

 band on chin and throat; the belly, the underside of the legs, and 

 the underside of the tail are white. The winter covering is coarse and 

 is tinged with gray, or may be very bluish in early fall. The coat is shed 

 twice a year, in June and in September. The change is gradual and does 

 not affect all the parts at once. The antlers, possessed only by the buck, 

 are about twenty-one inches in length and four and three-quarters inches 

 in circumference at the base. They curve outward and upward, the tips 

 turning in toward each other. A short, upright spike is given off near 

 the base, beyond which the beam develops two upright branches, making 

 three nearly equal prongs. In battle the animals approach with bowed 

 heads and the tines meet, shielding each animal from the points of the 

 Other, Sometimes the antlers interlock so that the animals cannot sepa- 



