MOOSE ALL "NICKOSHIN." 271 



gradually drawn into the conversation, and they told 

 strange tales of the habits and characteristics of the 

 big animal. 



"I saw an article in a paper the other day," said 

 Brown, " which gave pictures of the European elk. 

 That animal looked just like our moose. Do they 

 call moose, elk, over there?" 



"Yes," was Dyche's reply. "The European elk 

 corresponds to our moose. They are very near 

 cousins, but our moose is larger and averages darker 

 in colour. The horns of the American moose are said 

 to be more palmated than those of the European or 

 Norwegian elk." 



" Moose are found all through the northern part of 

 the country, are they not?" asked Brown. 



" They formerly ranged over a vast tract of coun- 

 try, from ocean to ocean and from the northern bor- 

 der of the United States to the Alaskan line, where 

 he is still common along the Yukon River and many 

 of its tributaries. They feed on the leaves and small 

 twigs of the trees. I never saw grass or moss in the 

 stomach of moose." 



"Moose eat coarse grass sometimes," interjected 

 Maypuck, who had been following the conversation 

 closely. 



"Maybe that's so," said Dyche, "but I've never 

 found any grass in the stomachs of any that we have 

 killed. In the summer they eat leaves and tender 

 branches and in winter they nip off the ends of limbs 

 of willows and birch and sometimes strip off the 

 bark. The contents of the stomach of a moose in 

 winter looks like sawdust. They may eat sparingly 



