The Wbitetail Deer 71 



and deer he saw, and came across no less than 

 thirty-five of the former and over five hundred 

 and sixty of the latter ; in the most lonely parts of 

 the forest deer were found by the score, feeding 

 in broad daylight on the edges of the ponds. 

 Deer are still plentiful in many parts of the Alle- 

 ghany Mountains, from Pennsylvania southward, 

 and also in the swamps and cane-brakes of the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf states. 



Where the differences in habitat and climate 

 are so great there are many changes of habits, and 

 some of them of a noteworthy kind. Mr. John 

 A. Mclllhenny, of Avery's Island, Louisiana, for- 

 merly a lieutenant in my regiment, lives in what 

 is still a fine game country. His plantation is 

 in the delta of the Mississippi, among the vast 

 marshes, north of which lie the wooded swamps. 

 Both the marshes and the swamps were formerly 

 literally thronged with whitetail deer, and the 

 animals are still plentiful in them. Mr. Mclll- 

 henny has done much deer-hunting, always using 

 hounds. He informs me that the breeding times 

 are unexpectedly different from those of the 

 northern deer. In the North, in different locali- 

 ties, the rut takes place in October or Novem- 

 ber, and the fawns are dropped in May or June. 

 In the Louisiana marshes around Avery's Island 

 the rut begins early in July and the fawns are 

 dropped in February. In the swamps immedi- 



