72 Deer and Antelope of North America 



ately north of these marshes the dates are fully a 

 month later. The marshes are covered with tall 

 reeds and grass, and broken by bayous, while 

 there are scattered over them what are called 

 " islands " of firmer ground overgrown with tim- 

 ber. In this locality the deer live in the same 

 neighborhood all the year round, just as, for 

 instance, they do on Long Island. So on the 

 Little Missouri, in the neighborhood of my ranch, 

 they lived in exactly the same localities through- 

 out the entire year. Occasionally they would 

 shift from one river bottom to another, or go a 

 few miles up or down stream because of scarcity 

 of food. But there was no general shifting. 



On the Little Missouri, in one place where they 

 were not molested, I knew a particular doe and 

 fawn with whose habits I became quite intimately 

 acquainted. When the moon was full they fed 

 chiefly by night, and spent most of the day lying 

 in the thick brush. When there was little or no 

 moon they would begin to feed early in the morn- 

 ing, then take a siesta, and then — what struck 

 me as most curious of all — would go to a little 

 willow-bordered pool about noon to drink, feed- 

 ing for some time both before and after drinking. 

 After another siesta they would come out late in 

 the afternoon and feed until dark. 



In the Adirondacks the deer often alter their 

 habits completely at different seasons. Soon after 



