HIS ANTLERS. 101 



His usual colour is a very dark brown. A portrait of the 

 elk may be seen a few pages farther on. 



THE ANTLERS. 



The antlers of the male European elk are of the form 

 represented in the above drawing, from a very fine horn- 

 cranium in my possession. They are inferior in size to 

 those of his compeer on the American continent. It is the 

 generally received opinion that the elk, with others of the 

 deer tribe, sheds his horns every year. But the point, 

 though probably without reason, is questioned : some con- 

 tending that this is only the case with the younger males, 

 the horns of the adults being less frequently renewed say 



