^2 Game of Europe, W. & N. Asia & America 



Plate I.) perhaps the most conspicuous feature is the lateral compression, 

 or flattening, of the upper portion of the beam, and the enormous length 

 and thickness of the fourth tine, which is likewise much flattened. 

 Nothing like this is ever seen in red-deer antlers. Equally, and in 

 some degree even more, important (for it is a feature as marked in 

 immature as in adult wapiti) is the circumstance that all the tines above 

 the fourth are situated in practically the same plane as the latter, so that 

 in a front view of the antler the great tourth tine tends more or less com- 

 pletely to hide all those above and behind it. Consequently, the two or more 

 forks formed by the fourth tine and those above it are placed approximately 

 parallel to the long axis of the animal's head, and are thus to a great degree 

 invisible when each antler is viewed from directly in front in the vertical 

 plane of the fourth tine. These characteristics are excellently well dis- 

 played in the two pairs of Asiatic wapiti antlers shown in the upper half 

 of the illustration on page 6i ; and, as already said, may be always relied 

 upon to distinguish the antlers of this species from those of red deer. 



But it is not only by means of its antlers that the wapiti may be 

 readily distinguished from the red deer ; as there are many features con- 

 nected with its form and colouring which show how distinct it really is, 

 and since these are, for the most part, available at all seasons and all ages, 

 they are in some respects of even more value as a means of recognition 

 than are the cranial appendages of the stags, which are shown in their full 

 glory only during a comparatively short period of the year. 



As regards form and colour, the wapiti is specially distinguished by the 

 extreme shortness of the tail, and the relatively large size of the light rump- 

 patch, which is straw-coloured. The build is heavy, and the neck of the old 

 stags carries in winter a heavy fringe of long dark-coloured hair. The coat, 

 which is seldom distinctly red, is some shade of light tawny brown over 

 the greater part of the body, but on the withers, neck, head, under-parts, 

 and legs is dark brown, varying in tint according to position, age, sex. 



