LÖNNBERG, TAXONOMIC NOTES ABOUT PALEARCTIC REINDEEE. 11 



Arctic Islands or fells, so that tbey together form another 

 gronp within the genus. It has been pointed ont above that 

 the facial portion of the skull of R. t. feyuiicus is more elon- 

 gated than the same of the typical R. iarandus. This is 

 another characteristic which the Finland Reindeer has in 

 common with the races of Woodland Caribou in opposition 

 to the typical races of Barren Ground Caribou. The same 

 may be said about the great size of the animal compared 

 with the typical tundra Reindeer. Biologically the Finland 

 Reindeer is a forestloving animal, and even if it at some 

 times of the year leaves the forest because its food is more 

 easily and more plentifuUy obtained in other localities, it 

 belongs more to the forest than to the open tundra or the 

 naked mountains. Its area of distribution extended formerly 

 över the greater part of the forestclad Finland-CareHa, the 

 Kola Peninsula and adjoining parts of Russia. The question 

 whether it has inhabited Svveden, as vrell, wiJl be discussed 

 låter on. In the present time its habitat is very much re- 

 stricted from what it used to be. 



Pleske has, in his work quoted above, written about 

 what lie himself had observed concerning the wild Reindeer 

 during an expedition to the Kola Peninsula in the year 1880 

 and he quotes previous authors as well. From this report 

 it may be seen that wild Reindeer ha ve, at least formerly, 

 been distributed över the greater part of the peninsula but 

 that their number had been greatly diminished by wolves 

 and men. How it is at present is uncertain. Wild Rein- 

 deer are still to be found on the Kola Peninsula but it is 

 unknown to the present author whether they are numerous 

 or scarce. Ramsay mentions^ that he observed a flock of 

 11 wild Reindeer in the upper Kunjok-valley east of Lake 

 Imandra, and on the Umptek-tundra he saw such animals 

 too. In the year 1870 Mr. K. Hildén (»landssekreterare» in 

 Uleåborg) wrote that wild Reindeer were to be found in 

 Northern Finland within an area extending 220 verst in 

 length and with an average width of 120 verst. This area 

 consisted of »the forest-clad wilderness which is situated be- 

 tween the inhabited country of the parochial districts Enon- 

 tekis, Kittilä, Sodankylä and the eastern part of Kuolajärvi, 

 and the N orwegian frontier towards the east along Vaskon- 



^ Fennia, 5 Helsingfors 1S92. 



