334 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



The most abundant variety boasts many different hues, 

 and this fact has given it the name of the spotted deer. 

 Some that I saw had reddish cheeks and a white face ; the 

 sides were sprinkled over with large patches of brownish- 

 red and white; the under parts and tail were white; the 

 legs below the knees were of a chestnut color tipped with 

 white, and the muzzle was very black. The fact that near- 

 ly all had white tails caused me to think it was an albino 

 of the white-tailed species ; hence I classified it as C. leu- 

 curus, variety variatus ; and this classification was adopted 

 by the Museum of Natural History in Portland. I learned 

 from a very competent authority that these animals were 

 the prevailing type on Whidby Island; that they associ- 

 ated together and produced their young spotted like them- 

 selves ; and from this I deduced, though perhaps without 

 sufficient authority, that the variety was permanent, and 

 therefore worthy of being distinguished from its kindred 

 by a varietal name. 



I saw several cases of albinoism in the country, but the 

 specimens differed from the preceding in their markings. 

 One captured on a range of hills in Oregon had the front 

 part of the face near the antlers of a pure white, while that 

 near the nose was a dark chestnut tipped with gray. The 

 cheeks were white ; the ears were white inside, and a red- 

 dish-brown outside ; the sides were a dark chestnut mixed 

 with grayish-white ; the belly and flanks, and the legs as 

 far as the knees, were a pure white ; the lower portions of 

 the limbs were rufous ; and a broad, white dorsal band ex- 

 tended from the ears to the tail. This seemed to belong 

 to the black-tailed species, as the cauda was black above, 

 and white and black beneath. 



A snow-white deer is also found on Whidby Island, and 

 high up on several of the mountain ranges. This is also 

 said to keep its hue permanently, and to herd together in 

 groups varying from five to a dozen or more. A man in 

 Washington Territory had four of them about his house 

 for three or four years; and he reports that they never 

 changed their color, except that the white seemed to bright- 



