The Black-Tail Deer. H7 



erally, the only result is to find the warm, fresh bed from 

 which the deer has just sneaked off, the blades of grass 

 still slowly rising, after the hasty departure of the weight 

 that has flattened them down ; or else, if in dense cover, 

 the hunter suddenly hears a scramble, a couple of crashing 

 bounds through the twigs and dead limbs, and gets a 

 momentary glimpse of a dark outline vanishing into the 

 thicket as the sole reward of his labor. Almost the only 

 way to successfully still-hunt a deer in the middle of the 

 day, is to find its trail and follow it up to the resting- 

 places, and such a feat needs an expert tracker and a 

 noiseless and most skilful stalker. 



The black-tail prefers to live in the neighborhood of 

 water, where he can get it every twenty-four hours ; but 

 he is perfectly willing to drink only every other day, if, as 

 is often the case, he happens to be in a very dry locality. 

 Nor does he stay long in the water or near it, like the 

 white-tail, but moves off as soon as he is no longer thirsty. 

 On moonlight nights he feeds a good deal of the time, 

 and before dawn he is always on foot for his breakfast ; 

 the hours around daybreak are those in which most of his 

 grazing is done. By the time the sun has been up an 

 hour he is on his way homeward, grazing as he goes ; and 

 he will often stay for some little time longer, if there has 

 been no disturbance from man or other foes, feeding 

 among the scattered scrub cedars skirting the thicket in 

 which he intends to make his bed for the day. Having 

 once made his bed he crouches very close in it, and is 

 difficult to put up during the heat of the day ; but as the 

 afternoon wears on he becomes more restless, and will 



