270 REIN DEER. 



colour is brown above and white beneath, but as 

 it advances in age, it often becomes of a greyish 

 white, and sometimes almost entirely white : the 

 space about the eyes is always black : the hair on 

 the under part of the neck is of much greater length 

 than the rest, and forms a kind of hanging beard 

 in that part : both sexes are furnished with horns, 

 but those of the male are much larger and longer 

 than those of the female : the hoofs are long, large, 

 and black, as are also the false or secondary hoofs 

 behind ; and these latter, while the animal is run- 

 ning, make by their collision a remarkable clat- 

 tering sound, which may be heard at a consider- 

 able distance. 



No animal of this tribe appears to vary so much 

 in the form and length of its horns as the Rein 

 Deer, the individuals of which, according to age 

 and other circumstances, present so different an 

 appearance in this respect, that a person inconver- 

 sant in the history of the animal, would, at first 

 sight, hardly suppose them to belong to the same 

 species. In general the horns are remarkable for 

 their great length, and proportional slenderness, 

 and arc furnished with a pair of brow antlers, with 

 widely expanded and palmated tips directed for- 

 wards : towards the middle part of the horn rises 

 another large branch, directed upwards, and 

 branched at the tip ; the remainder of the horn 

 runs on to a great length in a backward direction, 

 and is more or less branched at the end. In the 

 young and middle aged Rein Deer the horns are 

 remarkable for their slender form ; but as the ani- 

 mal advances in age they are of a stronger appeai> 



