THE ELK OR MOOSE 965 



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 portions of the country. From Upper Canada all are gone, and but few remain in 



Lower Canada, where, fifty years since, they were abundant. What are left have 

 retreated to the great dense forests of the north." 



. Elk feed more upon the leaves and twigs of trees than upon grass, 



and their length of limb enables them to pluck such nutriment with 



facility, while the shortness of their necks renders them unfitted for grazing, unless 



A FAMILY OF KI.K. 



(One-twenty-fourth natural size.) 



in places where the grass is unusually tall, when they merely pluck the tops. In 

 Northern Europe and Asia, birch, willows, aspens, and poplars afford a large propor- 

 tion of the leafy food of the elk, but in North America both evergreen and decidu- 

 ous trees contribute their quota. Various lichens and mosses are, however, also 

 eaten, but in winter, when the whole country is deeply buried in snow, the elk have 

 to depend solely on twigs and buds of trees. In order to obtain the foliage of saplings 



