REINDEER. 



FIG. 172. 



239 



REINDEER (Eangifer tarandus). 



The elk or moose is the largest of the deer family, 

 standing six feet high at 

 the shoulder. The legs are 

 long and the neck is short, 

 so that the animal feeds on 

 bushes and the low branches 

 of trees rather than on 

 ground herbage. The horns, 

 borne by the male only, are 

 broad, flat, and branched ex- 

 teriorly, the internal edges 

 forming one curve. They 

 are solitary in their habits, 

 and prefer the wildest forests. 

 A few are found in Northern 

 Europe and Asia, but the 

 species is most abundant in the colder regions of 

 North America. 



HEAD OF ELK (Alces maichis). 



