978 



tinctive characteristic of this species is to be found in the antlers (shown in profile 

 in the figure on p. 973, and from the front in the figure of the entire animal), in 

 which the anterior prong of the main fork shows a great development at the ex- 

 pense of the hinder one. This abortion of the hinder prong is, however, compen- 

 sated by a corresponding growth of the subbasal snag. These snags, like the main 

 prongs of the antler, are subject to extraordinary abnormal developments, so that 

 the variations which occur in the antlers of the Virginian deer are only paralleled by 



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(One-fifteenth natural size.) 



those found in the reindeer. The tail is long. The summer pelage of the Virginian 

 deer is a bright bay, from which it derives its common local title of red deer, but in 

 winter the coat becomes of a grayer tinge. At all seasons of the year the throat, 

 a ring above the muzzle, a spot above and below the eye, portions of the inside of 

 the ear, the inner surfaces of the limbs and the under parts are, however, white. 

 The upper surface of the tail is dark brown, and even in winter there is a more or 

 less reddish tinge throughout the pelage. In build this deer is the most elegant and 



