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Field Museum of Natural History 



DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY 

 Chicago, 1922 



The White-Tailed Deer 



The common deer of eastern North America was 

 one of the first of our large mammals to be brought to 

 the attention of early settlers. Although originally 

 abundant in Massachusetts and other parts of New- 

 England, it seems to have been reported especially 

 from Virginia by early French writers who called it 

 Cerf de Virglnie. It was then given the scientific name 

 Cervus virginianus and so came to be known generally 

 as the Virginia Deer. In later years this name proved 

 to be misleading, for the same species of deer, or vari- 

 eties differing slightly in size and color, was found to 

 be present not only in Virginia but over most of the 

 eastern and central United States. Another name for 

 it, therefore, has gradually come into use, the name 

 White-tailed Deer. This is frequently shortened to 

 Whitetail, which is a very appropriate name, for the 

 deer's tail is entirely white on the under side and when 

 held erect, as the animal dashes through the woods, is 

 very conspicuous. The upper side of the tail, however, 

 is not white but reddish brown or gray the same as the 

 back and sides of the body. 



The White-tailed Deer withstands the advance of 

 civilization much better than most of our larger mam- 

 mals and is still common over much of its original 

 range. In Pennsylvania, Virginia, and in parts of New 

 York and New England, where elk, bison, bears, cou- 

 guars and wolves have completely disappeared, the 

 Whitetail still flourishes. This, of course, is mainly on 

 account of the protection afforded by good game laws, 



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