THE HOME OF THE REINDEER. 87 



never to be forgetten. The reindeer, which is the same 

 as the Barren Ground caribou, is an animal of excep- 

 tional interest. To those whose imaginations dwell on 

 visions of St. Nicholas and his coursers it is the ideal 

 steed ; while to the hardy native of the frigid zone it 

 is a faithful and efficient servant, and is undoubtedly 

 the most useful and valuable of the fifty or more 

 known varieties of deer. 



In different localities, and at different seasons of the 

 year, reindeer vary in appearance ; they range in weight 

 from one hundred to four hundred pounds. During the 

 months of June and July they present their poorest 

 appearance, being then lean and scrawny, and their 

 half-shed coats ragged and frowsy. By the month of 

 August they have discarded their tattered last-winter 

 garments, and have assumed sleek glossy brown sum- 

 mer coats, which give them a smaller but much more 

 comely appearance. From this time, both because of 

 increasing flesh arid length of hair, they become gradu- 

 ally larger and more handsome, until, by the' month of 

 November, when they don their winter suits of white 

 and grey, they are transformed in appearance into the 

 noblest animals of the chase. 



Then it is that the enormous antlers of the male deer 

 have attained their full, hard growth, and he is thus 

 armed for the many battles habitually fought during 

 the months of November and December for the posses- 

 sion of favored members of the fair sex. During the 

 month of January these antlers of the male deer, having 

 served their purpose as weapons of warfare, are annually 

 cast. Within a few weeks of the falling of the old 

 horns, soft new ones begin to form beneath the skin, and 



