THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 61 
very large, but at all times they roam widely. The great 
herds in the fall of the year perform a more or less regular 
movement in the nature of migrations, and within certain 
limits their course of travel and times of arrival at given 
points are well known.” This coincides with the informa- 
tion that I have received from Mr. Black, Doctor Alfred 
Thompson, M.P., and other local observers. It is probable 
that the greater certainty with which the migratory move- 
ments of these herds in the Yukon can be predicted, as 
compared with the caribou of the Barren Grounds of the 
Northwest Territories, is due to the difference in the topog- 
raphy of the country, and the greater restriction in possible 
routes of travel in the Yukon. In connection with these 
smaller herds in the Alaska-Yukon region it is important 
to remember that too much confidence should not be placed 
in the presence of such herds as indications of a wide spread, 
as there is a tendency among such gregarious animals to 
band together more readily when their numbers become 
more decreased, and thus a false impression of abundance 
may be given. 
Migratory and Other Habits —The most remarkable habit 
displayed by the barren-ground caribou is its periodical 
migrations southward in autumn and northward in the 
spring. During the summer time they keep to the open 
barren ground and the sea-coast. Here they find abundance 
of food, such as tender grasses, the shoots and buds of 
dwarf birch and willow, and they are able to escape to some 
extent their insect tormentors. In the autumn they turn 
southward towards the woods, and the winter is spent in 
these regions that provide shelter and food, such as moss, 
lichens, and tree-buds. The males are in very poor condi- 
tion towards the end of October, after the rutting season, 
their horns being at their best towards the end of Sep- 
tember. About a month later the males and females sepa- 
rate, and, according to Warburton Pike, who made valu- 
