104 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



some minutes, pretending to read a book. At length we sud- 

 denly directed our eyes toward him and raised our hand, 

 when he rushed to the shore and dashed through the rattling 

 canebrake in rapid style/' 



Late September is the season of nuts, and nuts are to the 

 Deer what honey is to the Bear. Acorns in particular are their 

 delight, and groves of oaks become a daily haunt of the re- 

 united family. The effect of such rich food in quantity is 

 quickly seen. 



*' Indeed," says Caton,^^*'it is astonishing to see how rap- 

 idly a buck and a doe will improve as soon as the acorns 

 begin to fall. Ten days are sufficient to change a poor Deer 

 to a fat one at the time when the summer coat is discarded and 

 the glossy winter dress appears." 



In view of this Deer's fondness for acorns it is interesting 

 to note that in Sargent's map" the distribution of oaks in Amer- 

 ica east of the Rockies coincides closely with the range of the 

 Whitetails. 



SOCIAL If the Whitetail had any games or places of meeting, we 



MENTs should find them used at this season, when all are fat and free 

 from care. But, so far as I have been able to learn, they do not 

 slide, play "tag," or "king of the castle," splash or chase each 

 other in circles, or in any way show that they have taken the 

 first steps in the evolution of amusement. 



RUT As October comes on another change sets in with the 



bucks. Their necks begin to swell and their mating instincts 

 to arouse. Hitherto they have been indifferent to the does 

 when they met by chance, but now they set out to seek them. 

 Of this I saw some signs on the Ottawa as early as the 15th of 

 September. George Linklater, the guide there, assures me 

 that he saw two bucks in full chase of a doe on the loth of 

 October. 



** Antelope and Deer of America, 1877, p. 308. 



*' Atlas, Rep. Forest Trees N. A., loth Census Office U. S. Dept. Int., 1884. 



