68 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE ~- 
Sf aang «Rc ecmeenidigreage 
caribou (Rangifer arcticus), with its allied races to which I 
have already referred, which is the smallest species; (2) the 
woodland caribou (R. caribou) (Plate II), which is larger in 
size, and comes next in extent of distribution and abundan¢e; 
(3) the large mountain caribou (R. montanus and R. osborni), 
which is dark in colour and exceeds all others in size (Plate 
IV); and the light-coloured or white Newfoundland caribou 
(R. terrenove). 
Throughout its range the woodland caribou is but thinly 
scattered, and it is nowhere numerous at the present time. 
It may be found in the thickly wooded coniferous forest 
regions from Nova Scotia in the east to British Columbia 
in the west. In Nova Scotia it has become very scarce, 
but may still be found in small numbers in the western part 
of the province, particularly in Victoria and Inverness Coun- 
ties, Cape Breton Island. A few remain in New Brunswick, 
but unfortunately they appear to be decreasing in numbers 
annually.* Perhaps the greatest number now occur in the 
province of Quebec, especially in the remote forest regions 
which extend from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Hudson 
Bay, although their numbers are decreasing every year. In 
1911 I found that they were still fairly common in the Lake 
St. John region, but they are in need of greater protection 
in that province. 
Throughout the coniferous forests in the northern por- 
tions of the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, 
and Alberta, and the adjacent similarly forested regions of 
*Henry Braithwaite, the veteran guide and trapper, of Fredericton, is 
quoted as saying, in The Weekly Mail, Fredericton, N. B., February 9, 1921: 
“‘T may be wrong, but it is my honest opinion that the New Brunswick caribou 
have been exterminated. . . . Some of our guides and sportsmen appear to 
be under the impression that caribou will some day return to the province. 
It is my belief that they will not come back. They left New Brunswick just 
as they left Maine some thirty years ago, and Maine is without caribou to- 
day. ... They have gone out in precisely the same way as the wild pigeons. 
I can remember in my boyhood days seeing flocks of wild pigeons which 
almost darkened the sky. They vanished almost in a night, and the predic- 
tion was freely made that they would return, but they have not done so.” 
