278 BULLETIN NO. VII. 



Although eaten by the Indians, the flesh is inferior and no 

 attempt seems to have been made to domesticate our species. 

 The hide, therefore, is the most valued article furnished by 

 the caribou, and in a short time, like so many other large ani- 

 mals, the caribou will cease to be a member of our fauna. 



Cervus canadensis ERXL. 



AMERICAN ELK. 



Plate VI. 



The only true Cervus of Minnesota, and the largest animal in 

 America, except the moose, still exists, though in diminished 

 numbers, in the northern wilderness. The elk may be taken 

 as the type of a true deer, and the poetic associations and fan- 

 cies which cling to the stag of Europe might better have been 

 engrafted upon this species than the Virginia deer, as has hap- 

 pened. The elk is, however, so much larger than the stag, 

 though by some regarded as not specifically distinct, and so 

 much more rare than the deer that it has come to be regarded 

 as one of the peculiar outgrowths of our own country, while 

 few ever think of the Virginia deer as radically different from 

 the European red deer. 



The short body, slender and rather long legs, small feet, 

 slender head and graceful neck, make up the ensemble so fami- 

 liar, at least through illustrations, but no illustration can do 

 justice to the majesty of the stag at bay with flashing eye and 

 threatening antlers. The elk may be regarded as par excellence 

 the game mammal of America. The antlers are large and much 

 more uniform in size and form than either of the preceding. 

 The antler consists of the beam or main trunk, in this case 

 cylindrical and polished, chief branches called tines, minor 

 branches called snags, and tubercles. The position and relative 

 size of the tines are of especial importance in distinguishing 

 species. The lowest considerable tine is the brow-tine, extend- 

 ing forward, the next the bez-tine, then the royal, sur-royal 

 tine, etc. In the elk the brow- tine springs from immediately 

 above the burr and forms a gentle downward curve. The bez- 

 tine extends laterally and is nearly of the same size. A con- 

 siderable interval separates the royal tine, which is smaller 

 than the preceding. The beam now is reduced in size and 

 gives off more or fewer anterior tines which vary with age and 

 otherwise. Occasionally these upper tines spring from the 

 same point forming a depression surrounded by diverging 



