ZOOLOGY. 123 



be added, making five in all. This is the general form of the 

 horn ; sometimes, however, old bucks are found with but two 

 points. The deer likes the hills and the timber ; the prong- 

 horned antelope [AjifAlocapra americcma) loves the valley and 

 the open land. Before the Americans took California, the Sac- 

 ramento and San Joaquin valleys abounded T\'ith herds of an- 

 telope ; but now they are rare in the northern part of the state, 

 and not abundant in the southern part. The traveller in the 

 Tulare valley and in the Great Basin near the Coast Moun- 

 tains, sees herds of them everv dav. Thousands are killed 

 yearly for the market. In size the antelope is not quite so 

 large as the Califoraian deer, which it resembles closely in form 

 and general appearance. They are distinguished at a distance 

 by their motion : the antelope canters, while the deer runs ; 

 the antelope go in herds, and more in a line following the lead 

 of an old buck, like sheep, to which they are related, while deer 

 more frequently are alone, and if in a herd they are more inde- 

 pendent, and move each in the way that suits him best. In color, 

 the back, upper part of the sides and outside of the thighs and 

 forelegs are yellowish brown ; the under parts, lower part of 

 the sides, and the buttocks as seen from behind, are white. 

 The hair is very coarse, thick, spongy, tubular, slightly crimped, 

 or waved, and like short lengths of coarse threads cut ofi' 

 bluntly. The horns are very irregular in size and form, but 

 usually they are about eight inches long, rise almost perpen- 

 dicularly, have a short, blunt prong in front, several inches 

 from the base, and make a short backward crook at the top. 

 The female has horns as well as the male. The hoof is heart- 

 shaped, and its print upon the ground may be readily distin- 

 from the long, narrow track of the deer. The antelope is 

 about two feet and a half high, and four feet long from the 

 nose to the end of the tail. 



The mountain sheep ( Ovis rnontana) is found on the Sierra 

 Nevada, from the Tejon Pass to the Oregon line, but it is a 

 rare and very shy animal, and is seldom killed. Its length is 

 about five feet, and its weisrht sometimes three hundred and 



