Missouri Pronghorn 335 



on the internal bony core of the horn is a very slight notch on the tront 

 border. With the exception of a narrow median line, the nose of the 

 pronghorn is covered with hair ; the tail is very short ; and there is no 

 trace of the small lateral pair of hoofs on either the front or the hind teet. 



In size the pronghorn has been compared to a very long-limbed and 

 long-necked sheep ; its height at the withers being about 3 feet, and its 

 weight, when cleaned, ranging from 70 to 80 lbs. The eyes are relatively 

 large, like those of a gazelle ; the face is devoid of glands below the 

 eyes ; and the back of the neck is typically surmounted by a short mane. 



The hair is stiff, coarse, and brittle ; and there does not appear to be 

 any great difference between the summer and winter coats. The general 

 colour of the upper-parts is rich yellowish brown ; a band on the forehead 

 between the eyes, together with the nose and a spot below each eye, being 

 liver-coloured, while the sides of the head, a patch behind each ear, three 

 transverse bars on the throat, and the whole of the rump and under-parts, 

 are pure white. The legs are yellowish brown, and the horns, hoots, and 

 naked portion of the nose black. 



According to Dr. D. G. Elliot, the typical locality for the pronghorn 

 is probably either the plains to the east of the Missouri or the Black 

 Mountains. Be this as it may, the range of the typical form of the species 

 extends from the valley of the Saskatchewan, in latitude §f ^- ('" British 

 Columbia), southwards to the confines of Mexico, and from the Missouri 

 River westward across the prairies to the Rocky Mountains and the 

 Cascade Range in Washintrton and Oregon. In Mexico itself, as noted 

 below, the species is represented, according to Dr. Merriam, by a distinct 

 local race. 



At the present day, according to Dr. G. B. Grinnell,^ the range of 

 the pronghorn is now practically limited to the cattle-ranching country. 

 Western Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas now form the eastern limits of its 



1 Outi/ig, vol. xxxvii. p. 255 (1900). 



