HIPPOPOTAMUSES, PIGS, AND DEER 303 



Rangifer tarandus. The Reindeer 



The Reindeer belongs, as has been already mentioned, to 

 that group of deer (JFelemetacarpalia) which only retain the 

 lower ends of the metacarpal bones of the second and fifth 

 toes ; though occasionally in the reindeer there are minute 

 fragments near the wrist joint of the upper portions of the 

 second and fifth metacarpals which are so well represented 

 in their lower portions. Antlers are present in both sexes 

 — an exceptional instance in the Deer tribe — but it is said 

 that this is not the case amongst all the breeds of reindeer, 

 and that the females of those found in North-east Russia 

 are hornless. The head is rather coarsely built, with a big 

 muzzle, which certainly offers a suggestion of the elk about 

 it. The ears are not long, are rather rounded, very hairy, 

 and white in colour fringed with black. The general colour 

 of the head, especially along the ridge of the nose, is also 

 blackish. In colour the rest of the body varies a good deal 

 according to the season, but in June it is a pale yellowish-gray 

 on the neck (including the thick fringe of hair that lines the 

 edge of the throat), a bluer gray on the body, with a tinge 

 of warm brown in the gray on the hind quarters. There is 

 a blackish stripe along the edge of the flanks and the belly is 

 whitish. The front limbs are blackish-brown, and this tint 

 marks very strongly and decidedly the inner sides of the hind 

 legs, with a whitish patch on the inside of the hock, and whitish 

 lines on the edges of the hoofs. The tail, which is distinct 

 though short, is also fringed with white, and there is a little 

 white on the buttocks. These tints vary according to the 

 different races into which the reindeer is divided. The female 

 is rather darker and the young are darker stilV with a blackish 

 line along the back. The limbs are distinctly short in com- 

 parison with the length of the body, shorter proportionately 

 than in any other big deer. The feet are clumsy-looking 



^ Except when first born and quite young : then they are pale yellow- 

 brown. 



