THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 15 



the deer at that time collect in large herds. The 

 stags at this time are very pugnacious, and desperate 

 battles take place between them, in which their 

 horns sometimes become locked, and are occasion- 

 ally broken short off. 



During this period the males frequently utter a 

 peculiar hoarse roar, which has a most startling 

 effect when heard at night among the mountains, 

 and which certainly would not be attributed to a 

 ruminant animal. I have frequently at night, 

 when camped out on the fjeld, listened to rival 

 stags answering one another at various distances, 

 their deep voices re-echoing from the rocks, and 

 forming a most impressive concert. 



The Norwegian reindeer is evidently specifi- 

 cally the same animal as the North American 

 cariboo ; for though minor differences of form may 

 exist in various individuals, the habits and character 

 of the two animals are the same. The cariboo, 

 however, seems, from the information I have been 

 able to gather about it, to be less of a mountain- 

 loving animal than the European reindeer, and to 

 frequent the extensive pine barrens and open plains 

 of Northern America in preference to the snow- clad 

 mountain fastnesses inhabited by its Norwegian 

 congener. 



The broad-spreading hoof of the reindeer is 

 admirably adapted to support the animal in its 



