26 Game of Europe, W. & N. Asia & America 



form simple spikes, sometimes straight, but in other cases inclining slightly 

 towards the middle. 



These characters are amply sufficient to distinguish reindeer from all 

 their kindred, either near or remote ; but it may be advisable to refer to 

 a few more of their most obvious external characters. 



The muzzle of these deer is completely covered with hair, the ears 

 and tail are both short, and the fawn-coloured hair is unspotted at all 

 seasons and all ages, the region about the tail being white. A fringe or 

 mane of long hair is developed on the throat, and a tuft ot elongated 

 white hairs on the inner side of the hocks marks the position of the 

 tarsal gland, the gland on the shin-bone, or metatarsus, so commonly 

 present in deer, being wanting in this species. The relatively large lateral 

 hoofs and the round main hoofs are likewise characteristic features ot 

 reindeer. 



The wild reindeer of Scandinavia is the typical representative of the 

 species, as being the animal described by the great Swedish naturalist 

 Linna'us in 1766, under the name of Ccrvus taraudiis. Compared with 

 some of the American races, it is a rather small animal, although with 

 the usual heavy and clumsy build characteristic of all its kind. In the 

 male both brow-tines are often palmated and not markedly unsym- 

 metrical, and the degree of palmation of the bez-tines is comparatively 

 slight. Above the latter the beam of the antler is unbranched for a con- 

 siderable distance, although giving otf a back-tine at the elbow, and the 

 terminal expansion is not very great. Female antlers always carry much 

 fewer points and are usually much smaller, but in a mounted specimen 

 presented to the British Museum by Sir William Ingram they are nearly as 

 large as in the fine male (the gift of his brother) standing alongside. As in 

 the other races, the face, lianks, and the front of the limbs are much darker 

 in colour than the back and sides. A feature of this race is the gradual 

 passage of the white ring round the fetlocks into the fawn above, and the 



