Caribou 193 



the young bulls carry theirs till early spring; the cows keep 

 theirs till summer is near, dropping them about the time the 

 calf is born. 



Frederick Talcot records* a case of an adult Caribou 

 buck that was hornless. 



Typical antlers of male and female Woodland Caribou 

 are shown (Figs. 84 and 87), also examples of the allied 

 species (Figs. 80, 81 and 82). 



Although these specimens show well-marked differences, 

 the diversity of form in each kind is so great that we can find 

 in each of the species, examples that resemble the horns of each 

 of the other species. 



The finest horns are seen in the great Black Caribou of 

 Alaska (osborni). These, more than any other, combine large 

 size and many points with remarkable symmetry and six per- 

 fect shovels fully and evenly developed — a feature rarely seen 

 in other parts of the mainland. 



Of the American Reindeer, the Woodland Caribou is be- 

 lieved to have the smallest antlers, the Newfoundland the most 

 massive, the Barren-ground the slenderest. 



The largest pair of Caribou antlers mentioned in Ward's 

 Records of Big Game (1899) are the property of Mrs. Mac- 

 intosh, of Havering Park, Essex, England, and are from 

 Canada. They are given as 62 inches along the outside curves 

 of the beam, have 49I inches spread, points 20 and 17. 



Cartwright mentions'* a Labrador specimen with 72 

 points. But Harry E. Lee's 57-point Alaskan {R. osborni) 

 from Kenai Peninsula, is the finest head of which I have a 

 picture (Fig. 82). 



Judge Caton has pointed out^*' that the Woodland Caribou glands 

 and Norway Reindeer have in each hind-foot, deep between 

 the toes, a curious gland that exudes an unctuous substance. 

 This is probably part of a system of scent signals; but, in 



* Forest and Stream, September 12, i8g6, p. 203. 

 'Journal, Sixteen Years Res. Labrador, 1792. 

 '"Antelope and Deer of America, 1877, p. 265. 



