ZOOLOGY. 67 



valley of the Mississippi. Near Humboldt bay elk are abundant, and I am assured by intelli- 

 gent men tbat eight hundred, and even one thousand pounds is not an unusual weight, and 

 that individuals have been killed there which are said to have weighed even twelve hundred 

 pounds. Of those which I saw, however, either killed by our own party, or brought into the 

 market of San Francisco, none weighed over about six hundred or seven hundred pounds ; but 

 we saw the tracks of elk in the Cascade mountains which were scarcely less in size than those 

 of a bullock. 



The flesh of the elk is certainly not so good as that of some others of the cervine quadrupeds, 

 but still is far from bad. A large, though young and fat buck, killed by Lieut. Crook, U. S. A., 

 aiforded us venison which was tender, juicy, and very sweet. 



CERVUS LEUCURUS, Doug. 



White-Tailed Deer. 



Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, C49. 



While traversing the region in which this problematical species has been said to exist I was 

 constantly on the lookout for facts or specimens which should decide the question of its right to 

 be considered a distinct species ; and although I was unsuccessful in obtaining evidence which will 

 be considered conclusive for the solution of this problem, I was able to get such evidence in the 

 case as to convince myself, at least, that the Cervus leucurus of Douglas, or, at least, the 

 "white-tailed deer" of the upper Columbia, is nothing more nor less than our Cervus 

 virginianus. 



At our depot camp, on the south fork of the Des Chutes river, near where we first met with 

 the mule deer, (C. macrolis, Say,) the first and only specimen of the white-tailed deer was killed 

 by our hunters. This was a dappled fawn, in size and markings to our eyes undistinguishable 

 from the young of the Virginian deer. The tail was not disproportionately long, was of a red- 

 dish brown above, and pure white below, the hair on its sides being longer, so as to give it 

 greater relative breadth than in the mule deer or the Columbian black -tailed deer ; and unlike 

 the tail in both these species, there was ngt a black hair on any part of it. Subsequently, when 

 ascending the main fork of the Des Chutes, we encamped, early in the day, in a thick clump of 

 pines, in a bend of the river. After dinner I took my gun and fishing tackle and strolled along 

 up the stream. I saw everywhere most abundant " sign" of beaver, which seemed to occupy 

 both sides of the river in a continuous colony. I had caught specimens of the only fishes which 

 seemed to inhabit that part of the stream, the western speckled trout, and a new white fish, 

 (Coregonus,) now, for the first time, found on the Pacific slope. I had been sitting very quietly 

 for a long time, watching the motions of a brood of young phalaropes which were sporting on the 

 stream, when, chancing to turn my head, I saw in the centre of a small prairie, not more than 

 6eventy-five yards from me, a full grown white-tailed doe. She was entirely unaware of my 

 presence. My view was quite unobstructed, and, since I had nothing but small shot in my gun, 

 I contented myself with a careful examination of her form and markings. She was stepping 

 slowly along, stopping at intervals, with head raised and ears turned forward, evidently at- 

 tracted towards our camp, not far distant, but completely concealed by the trees, by sounds or 

 scents, which excited at the same time her curiosity and her fears, these two emotions being 

 vividly represented in her animated looks and movements, and presented a picture which every- 

 one who has seen much of this timid, yet inquisitive animal will not fail to recall. It was late 

 in August, (the 28th,) and she had not yet shed her summer coat, which was light fulvous 

 above, whitish below ; as a whole, much lighter than Audubon's figure, or the specimen in the 

 collection of the Philadelphia academy, in both of which the coloring of the winter coat i* seen. 



