48 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



treeless prairie. They are, I think, most numerous 

 on the plains, but the finest specimens are found in 

 timbered districts. One might suppose that branch- 

 ing antlers would cause inconvenience to an animal 

 running through the tangle of a primeval forest ; 

 but the contrary appears to be the case, for in all 

 countries the woodland deer carry far finer heads 

 than the stags of the same species that range in 

 open country. The size of the antlers depends 

 entirely on the food which the animal can procure. 

 Where he is well fed, they will be well developed ; 

 where food is scarce, they will be small. In a 

 timbered country there is more shelter than on the 

 plains, the grass is not so deeply covered with snow 

 in winter, and consequently food is more plentiful 

 at that time of year, and the animal thrives better. 

 You always find heavier deer in woodland than in 

 an open country. Early in the fall the stags gather 

 large herds of hinds about them ; about the end of 

 October they separate, and the big stags wander off 

 alone for a while, and then later on join in with the 

 big bands of hinds and small stags. During the 

 winter they run in great numbers — it is not un- 

 usual to find herds of two or three hundred to- 

 gether, and I have seen, I believe, as many as a 

 thousand different wapiti within a week. A large 



