RUMINANTIA. CERVID^. 81 



■ 3. Cervus Virginianus. Fallow Deer. 



Virginian Deer, Pennant. 



Cervus Virginianus, Harlan, Fauna Am., p. 238. 

 The Common Deer, Godman, Nat. Hist, ii. p. 306. 

 Figure ; Ibid., p. 306. 



Specific characters. Horns bent forwards, with an antler on the 

 internal face of each ; stem directed inwards, and two or three 

 others at the posterior face directed backwards ; fur of a cinna- 

 mon fawn-color in summer, brownish-gray in winter ; in the young, 

 spotted with white, irregularly arranged on the sides, but in one 

 continuous line along the back. 



Description. General form slender and light ; legs thin, rather 

 long ; color cinnamon-brown or fawn early in the summer, after- 

 wards bluish ; in the winter, yellowish or rusty-brown ; hairs an- 

 gular, tapering to a fine point, which is dark-brown, then a ring 

 of yellow, then of brown, gradually fading into white or whitish, 

 the last of which occupies nearly its whole length. The edge 

 of the under lip is white, also the belly ; a stripe on the anterior 

 part of the hind leg, and the posterior part of the fore leg, and 

 also the under part of the tail. Besides this distribution of colors, 

 there is a gray, a little above the extremity of the nose, around 

 the eyes, and inside of the ears ; the latter are edged with dark 

 brown. The general color is darker along the back than upon 

 the sides ; hoofs black, sharp, or pointed ; on the inside of the 

 hind legs there is a thick odoriferous brush of hair, situated near 

 the joint, which seems to be connected with the sexual appetite. 



Dimensions. 



ft. in. t'thf. 



Medium length from the nose to the root of the tail, . . 5 



Tail, including the hair, 10 



Ear, on the back side, 6 



From the nose to the space between the ears, . . . .10 

 Height, 325 



Observations. The Cervus Virginianus is still preserved in the 

 eastern part of the State, on one or more islands near the main 

 shore. It has also been taken within the last year in Williams- 

 town, at the base of Saddle Mountain, and it is not very rare in 



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