190 



BULLETIN 56, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



R< marks. — This deer was apparently first discovered by Gen. George 

 Crook, although I have -ecu no published reference to it. On Decem- 

 ber 5, 1884, Mr. Charles II. Allabach, a member of a hunting party 

 conducted by General Crook, shot a 2-year-old buck — the one above 

 described — near the base of Bill Williams Mountain. Arizona. The 

 General, who was familiar with practically all of the species of deer 

 of the United States and northern Mexico, at once noticed its dis- 

 similarity from the mule deer, the whitetail, and the blacktail of 

 Columbia River. He caused the head, lea's, and skin of body to he 

 collected and delivered to me at Fort Verde, Arizona, together with 



a message calling my attention 

 to the large, clumsy ears, white 

 buttocks, flattened tail, and other 

 characters of the specimen. The 

 following letters were subse- 

 quently received: 



Whipple Barracks, 



December 23, 188.'/. 

 Doctor Mearns : 



Dear Sir: This is the pelt of which 

 General Crook telegraphed t<> you, but 

 in a rather dilapidated condition. 

 You will have to do some crazy-patch 

 work it' you desire to mount it. The 

 antler was broken off and lost by the 

 packers, hut was facsimile of the 

 other. It was killed near the base of 

 Bill Williams Mountain on the 5th of 

 Decern her. 1884. 



Yours, truly. 



('has. II. Allabach. 



Fig. 20.— Odocoileps crook>. Teeth of type Prescott, January 15, 1885. 



Cat. No. 35752, U.S.N.M.) o, Profile of eight My Deab Doctor: The specimen 

 ri'i'KK molar series; b, crowns of same; c, , .,, , ■ ■ ,.~. . ,. 



, sent vim l>\- Allahach is different rom 



PROFILE "I RIGHT LOWEB MOLAR SERIES; </, 



CROWNS OF SAME; C, INCISOR-CANINE .SERIES, i,M . V [ ll;1V( ' S,V " '" tllis COUntl'y. 



front view. It is larger, the upper side of the tail 



is of a different color, and it is in- 

 clined lo he white on the buttocks around the tail. The black-tailed deer of 

 California differs more widely from the mule deer than does the white-tailed 

 deer. The only gpod description 1 have ever seen of it is in Judge Caton's hook. 

 I would like a pair of the crossbills. 



Yours, sincerely. GEORGE CROOK. 



I immediately wrote a description of the new species, but the manu- 

 script was withheld from publication awaiting a more satisfactory 

 type-specimen, which was not obtained until June !>. 1892, when I 

 had the satisfact ion of seeing several of these deer alive and of killing 



the type on Emory Peak of the Dog Mountains, where I noted it- 



