140 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



lines of black and tan." Although our author was not aware 

 that he was describing the same winter coat at two different 

 periods of its growth, he has done so with marked clearness, and 

 he would have appreciated this, if he had watched many individ- 

 uals of most of the species day b}^ day from the first appearance 

 of the new winter coat, under the disappearing summer coat, 

 through all the changes to the faded and worn out appearance 

 of spring, and till it is finally cast off in its turn, — he would 

 have appreciated that, like the garment of a man, it is most 

 beautiful when it is first put on, and the longer it is worn the 

 more faded and shabby it becomes. 



Hardy says, the Moose sheds his winter coat about the middle 

 of April. In September we find him with a fine, short, soft, glossy 

 coat, as black as night. Can any rational man suppose that that 

 is the same coat which he took on in the previous April, and 

 which he had worn the whole summer ? Has it been growing 

 finer, shorter, softer, and acquiring a finer lustre all the summer ? 

 On all the others the summer coat continues to increase in length, 

 and to lose its freshness during the summer, until, when it is 

 thrown away, it has a dirty and ragged appearance, and all at 

 once, in September, we find it changed to a rich and beautiful 

 nuptial dress, the admiration of all who see him. No one ever 

 nien,tions him in this dress in the summer time, and I imagine no 

 one of sense will suppose he ever wears such a dress at that time, 

 and to suppose that the same hairs which had been long and 

 harsh, and dull of color, all at once become short, and soft, and 

 brilliant, seems to me to bespeak an ignorance of the growth of 

 the coats of quadrupeds. It seems to me impossible to account 

 for this ornamental coat in the early fall, except on the conclu- 

 sion that it is composed of new hairs, which have lately taken 

 the place of others of a different color and quality just cast off. 



Audubon and Bachman say : " But there is always a striking 

 difference between the summer and winter colors, the hairs in 

 winter becoming darker." Now this must be a recognition of the 

 two distinct coats of summer and winter ; the former of which is 

 certainly lighter than the latter, even after it has faded from its 

 first brilliant hues. It would be an anomaly, indeed, for a sickly, 

 pale coat to change to a brilliant black. 



Both from analogy and attested facts, when their true import 

 is properly considered, I think we are warranted in the conclu- 

 sion that the Moose, with the others, has its two distinct pelages 

 each year. 



