WOODLAND CARIBOU. 



Rangifer caribou.— Aud. and Bach. 



THE Woodland Caribou is a near relative of the reindeer of 

 Northern Europe, and since this genus alone of all the deer 

 tribe has been domesticated, we may regard it as the most useful, 

 if not the most comely of its race. The clear, dark eye of the 

 Caribou has a beautiful expression, but the animal has neither the 

 grand proportions of the wapiti, nor the grace of the roe buck, and 

 its thick, square form.ed body is far from being a model of elegance. 

 The front hoofs are capable of great lateral expansion, and curve 

 upwards, while the secondary ones behind, which are but slightly 

 developed in other members of the family, are considerably pro- 

 longed, a structure which, by giving the animal a broader base to 

 stand upon, prevents its sinking too deeply into the snow or morass. 



The short legs and broad feet of the Caribou likewise enable 

 him to swim with great ease, a power of no small importance in a 

 country abounding in lakes and rapid rivers, and where scarcity 

 of food renders frequent migrations necessary. When the Caribou 

 moves a remarkable clattering sound may be heard some distance. 

 This is produced by the long hoofs which separate as they press 

 the ground and close when raised. 



A long mane of dirty white hangs from the neck of this deer. 

 In summer the body is brown above and white beneath. In winter, 

 long haired and yellowish white. Its antlers are widely different 

 from those of the stag or wapiti, having broad, palmated summits, 

 and branching backward to the length of three or four feet ; their 

 weight is considerable, twenty or twenty-five pounds, and it is re- 

 markable that both sexes have horns, while in all other genera 

 of the deer tribe the males alone are in possession of this ornament 

 or weapon. 



The female brings forth in May or June a single calf, rarely two. 

 This is small and weak, but after a few days follows its mother, 



