150 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



among the coarse hairs next the skin, and contributes largely to 

 the warmth of the dress, which, like all the rest, constitutes a 

 very warm covering, and enables the animal to endure the 

 severest weather without complaint, if he can but get enough to 

 eat. Indeed it is so complete a non-conductor of heat that snow, 

 which he has left upon the leaves when he makes his bed, is not 

 thawed in any appreciable degree but only compressed. This 

 under coat of fur is not found with the summer coat, which con- 

 sists of rather fine, firm, and elastic hairs. On some specimens 

 this summer coat is of a light buff color, while on others it is of a 

 bright mahogany bay or red, while others may show every inter- 

 mediate shade between these two extremes. 



We now come to the smallest of the North American deer, a 

 description of which I have not been so fortunate as to anywhere 

 meet, except by a single allusion elsewhere mentioned. 



The color of the Acapulco Deer resembles much that of the 

 Virginia and the black-tailed deer, though more the latter than 

 the former. In its black face, however, it is more like the Vir- 

 ginia deer, and so of the white under the belly, a darker shade 

 than either generally prevailing. On this deer, however, the 

 white of the belly commences at a point in the middle just back 

 of the fore legs. At this point it will be remembered that the 

 white on the belly of the Virginia deer commences in a fork, 

 being divided in front by the black stripe on the brisket. This 

 feature, that the white on the belly of the one is divided in front 

 and so forked, while on the other it commences in a single point 

 anteriorly, being constant, is worthy of special attention. At the 

 umbilicus the white has widened out till it involves the entire 

 width of the belly, the inside of the thighs and extending up pos- 

 teriorly to the seat of the tail, the color of which is described in 

 the appropriate place. This small species, as well as the Ceylon 

 deer, fades much less in color than do the larger species. In the 

 spring, when the winter coat is cast off, it still preserves its darker 

 shades, and the rufous tinge remains to the last, though faded 

 very appreciably. The persistency of the deeper colorings is so 

 great as to render the animals conspicuous, when promiscuously 

 intermixed with a more numerous band of common deer. 



The face of this deer is black, though not very intense, the 

 black growing narrower and less intense below the ears and con- 

 siderably lighter down the cheeks. The light band around the 

 eyes is wanting in its upper half or above the eye, but is present 

 below. The ear on the outside is black, and white on the inside. 



