Florida Whitetail 345 



tinguished by Mr. G. M. Allen' as Oilocoikus virgin'uuiiis /ouisiaine. Both 

 are larger than the typical Virginian whitetail ; the latter being specially 

 characterised by the pale colour ot its winter coat, its long and slender 

 skull, the relatively great length of the lower series ot cheek-teeth, and 

 the tall and heavy antlers. It is said to be very similar in general charac- 

 ters to the Florida whitetail, but is larger and slightly paler. 



Neither of" the two forms are here allowed definite racial rank, as the 

 writer is by no means convinced that the characters by which they differ 

 from the typical Virginian whitetail are sufficient to justify this. Possibly 

 the same remark may apply to the western and Florida whitetails. In 

 the writer's opinion many of the forms described by American naturalists 

 as subspecies seem scarcely worthy of any kind of separation, while those 

 regarded by the former as species appear in many instances to be no more 

 than local races. 



THE FLORIDA WHITETAIL 



{Mazama amer'icana osceold) 



This is a small dark-coloured form of whitetail '-' inhabiting the pen- 

 insula from which it takes its name, and provisionally allowed racial 

 distinction. The colour of the upper-parts is a mixture of dark and light 

 brown, with a dark brown stripe running from between the ears down the 

 middle of the neck and back. The sides and lower part of the neck, as 

 well as the neck, are cinnamon, the throat and under-parts white, and the 

 ears brown externally and white internally ; the hairs of the upper surface 

 of the tail being dark reddish brown with cinnamon-coloured tips. 



1 American Naturalist, vol. xxxv. p. 44.8 (1901). 

 " Named by Mr. O. Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. x. p. 25 (1896). 



2 y 



