136 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



to the distinction of a variety, the only peculiarity being, that it 

 has on the average more white on it than those native east of 

 the Missouri River, This specimen has more white on it than 

 any other which I have ever seen anywhere. 



On one specimen only of the Wapiti deer have I found white 

 hairs around the hoofs, and I have examined hundreds for them. 

 This was a fine buck, sent from Laramie, on the Laramie plains, 

 and probably killed in that neighborhood in January, 1875. I 

 judge him to have been five years old. Around the hoofs on each 

 foot was a band of pure white hairs. It extended quite around 

 the upper part of the hoofs, and was about three lines broad, and 

 was of the like dimensions on each foot. 



We have seen in another place that white spots, or white 

 hairs, frequently' appear on the Elk, but they are fugitive, never 

 appearing in the same form or place, if at all, the next year. It 

 would be interesting to know if this was so on the Laramie elk. 



On all the species, save the caribou and the Virginia deer, not 

 a white hair has ever been detected around the hoofs, except the 

 single elk just named ; but if there be a distinction, the liairs 

 around the hoofs are of a darker shade than those above, though 

 I was disappointed not to find some white hairs there on the 

 Acapulco deer and the Ceylon deer. 



The legs of the female Wapiti are of a chestnut brown, and on 

 the bucks they are brown black, fading out as the season pro- 

 gresses to the color of the females, but on the posterior edges on 

 both, at all times, is the stripe of a much lighter and more yel- 

 low shade elsewhere described. 



The leg of the Mule Deer, although quite dark in the early 

 winter coat, fades out rapidly, so that by midwinter it is of quite 

 a light color, and by spring, it is sometimes nearly white, but 

 individuals differ very much in this regard. The same remark 

 will apply to both the Virginia and the Columbia deer. On the 

 Acapulco deer, the leg is of a darker color, and fades less during 

 the winter, still it fades to a certain extent. 



I have already spoken somewhat of the general color of the 

 Moose. We have seen that the new winter coat on the young 

 Moose is black, and so it is till he reaches his prime. Although, 

 even before that, the intensity or brilliancy of the color may 

 lose its lustre. Captain Hardy says : " The first two or three 

 days of September over, and the Moose has worked off (from his 

 antlers) the last ragged strip of the deciduous skin against his 

 favorite rubbing-post." " His coat now lies close with a gloss 



