64 Field Museum or Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XI. 



but upon leaving them and returning to the spot a short time afterwards, 

 they had invariably disappeared. The food of the adult consists largely 

 of grass and the young and tender leaves and buds of shrubs and trees, 

 together with aquatic plants. 



Albinism occurs occasionally in Deer as in many other mammals, 

 although perfectly white specimens are rare. The Field Museum col- 

 lection contains a fine white buck of the northern race taken in Minne- 

 sota. 



Odocoileus virginianus borealis (Miller). 

 Northern White-tailed Deer. 



Odocoileus americanus borealis Miller, Bull. N. Y. State Mus., VIII, 1900, p. 83. 

 Jackson, Bull. Wis. Nat. Hist. vSoc, VI, 1908, p. 4 (Wisconsin); lb., VIII, 1910, 

 p. 86 (Wisconsin). 



Odocoileus virginianus borealis Adams, Rent. State Board Geol. Surv. Mich., 1905 

 (1906), p. 128 (Michigan). 



Odocoileus virginianus Snyder, Bull. Wis. Nat. Hisi. Soc, II, 1902, p. 126 (Wiscon- 

 sin). 



Cervus (Cariacus) virginianus Herrick, Geol. & Nat. Hist. Surv. Minn., Bull. No. 7, 

 1892, p. 281 (Minnesota). 



Cervus Virginianus Lapham, Trans. Wis. State Agr. Soc, II, 1852 (1853), p. 337 (Wis- 

 consin). Strong, Geol. Wis., Surv. 1873-79, I. 1883, p. 437 (Wisconsin). 



Cervus virginianus Miles, Geol. Surv. Mich., 1861, p. 222 (Michigan). 



Type locality — Bucksport, Maine. 



Distribution — Northern tier of United States and southern Canada, 



west at least to the Rocky Mountains. 

 Special characters — Similar to 0. virginianus but larger, and the general 



color paler, or grayer. 



The Northern White-tailed Deer is merely a large and somewhat 

 grayer race of the Virginia Deer. All Deer which occur in Wisconsin at 

 the present time probably belong to this form. The average weight of a 

 full grown buck may be estimated at from 200 to 225 lbs., although Deer 

 weighing 300 lbs. are by no means uncommon, and Mr. E. T. Seton 

 records one having the unusual weight of 400 lbs.* 



In northern Wisconsin Deer are abundant in many localities and 

 large numbers are killed every season. Mr. W. L. Kinney of Eagle 

 River, Vilas County, informs me that in November, 1906, 300 dead Deer 

 were shipped from that station. Farther south they become less com- 

 mon, and in Jackson, Munroe, and Juneau counties they are compara- 

 tively scarce. Probably the rnost southern limit of their range in Wis- 

 consin at the present time is Sauk County, where, according to Mr. H. 

 B. Quimby of Reedsburg, they are still to be found. Jackson states that 

 lately Deer have become quite abundant in Sauk County, (/. c, p. 86). 



* Life Histories of Northern Animals, I, 1909, p. 71. 



