THE PRONG HORN. 625 



it resembles a real proboscis. The horns are lyrate, thin, and trans- 

 parent ; the ears are short, and almost hidden in its rough coat. In 

 summer the color is a grayish-yellow ; in winter the color becomes lighter 

 and the hairs are nearly three inches in length. 



The Saiga inhabits the steppes of Eastern Europe aud Siberia, from 

 the frontiers of Poland to the Altai. It lives in herds, forming in autumn 

 bands of several thousands, which perform regular migrations. They are 

 very watchful, and never all repose at once, and Pallas observed that the 

 sentinels were regularly relieved. They are very fleet, so that not even 

 a greyhound can take them ; they leap well, but without the grace of 

 the antelope. For food, they prefer the herbage that grows on the dry 

 steppe near salt-springs. They walk backward when feeding, as the 

 projecting snout is, otherwise, in their way. The flesh, owing to the 

 nature of the herbage on which the Saiga feeds, has a sharp, balsamic 

 odor ; but in spite of this, the natives are eager hunters. In addition to 

 the usual methods of the chase, the Black Eagle is employed. 



THE PRONG HORN. 



The sixth of our sub-families of the Bovid.e is constituted by the 

 Antilocaprin.e, consisting of only one species of a single genus. It in- 

 habits both sides of the Rocky Mountains, extending north to the Sas- 

 katchewan and the Columbia rivers, west to the coast-range of California, 

 and east to the Missouri. It seems to represent a transition between the 

 families which have solid and deciduous horns, and those possessing 

 hollow and permanent ones, for the horns, although hollow, like those of 

 the antelope, are shed annually, like those of the deer. 



GENUS ANTILOCAPRA. 



The Prong Horn, Antilocapra Americana (Plate XLVIII), derives its 

 name from the character of its horns. They are from eight to fourteen 

 inches in length, and at about two-thirds of their height become 

 palmated, and give out a short prong. The tips are bent inward. 

 They are shed every year, in a peculiar manner. They do not fall off" 

 entirely like the horns of the elk ; the pith remains, and the hard horny 

 shell comes off the pith like the shell from a crab. This shell becomes 

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