OF A RANCHMAN 211 



All deer vary greatly in size ; and a small 

 black-tail buck will be surpassed in bulk by 

 many white-tails; but the latter never 

 reaches the weight and height sometimes at- 

 tained by the former. The same holds true 

 of the antlers borne by the two animals ; on 

 the average those of the black-tail are the 

 heavier, and exceptionally large antlers of 

 this species are larger than any of the white- 

 tail. Bucks of both kinds very often have, 

 when full-grown, more than the normal 

 number of ten points; sometimes these 

 many-pronged antlers will be merely de- 

 formities, while in other instances the 

 points are more symmetrical, and add 

 greatly to the beauty and grandeur of the 

 head. The venison of the black-tail is said 

 to be inferior in quality to that of the white- 

 tail; but I have never been able to detect 

 much difference, though, perhaps, on the 

 whole, the latter is slightly better. 



The gaits of the two animals are widely 

 different. The white-tail runs at a rolling 

 gallop, striking the ground with the for- 



