186 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



existence at that latitude. The Newfoundland Caribou had, be- 

 fore the discovery of this species, been considered tlie whitest of 

 the caribou. 



On the American mainland west of Hudson Bay the typical 

 Barren Ground Caribou (Rangifer arcticus) is found in large 

 herds throughout the barren grounds, migrating in winter into 

 the timber belt as far south as the neighborhood of the Churchill 

 River, latitude 59° north, and the southern end of Reindeer Lake. 



That a portion of the herds remain along the northern coasts 

 throughout the winter has been demonstrated by Mr. Andrew J. 

 Stone. The recent investigations of this explorer have brought to 

 light the interesting fact that the Mackenzie River, throughout its 

 entire length, including a belt of land one hundred miles wide 

 along its banks, is uninhabited by caribou, and appears to form 

 the western limit of the Rangifer arcticus. To the west of the 

 river the caribou are nearly twice the size attained by those on 

 the east, and further explorations in that country will probably 

 show this west Mackenzie caribou to be a new species. The 

 caribou on both sides of the Mackenzie River, however, are 

 threatened w'ith extinction, owing to the increased number of 

 whalers wintering on the northern coast. The natives are em- 

 ployed to bring in immense quantities of meat, and are supplied 

 with fire-arms for that purpose. 



The portion of northern Alaska drained by the Colville River 

 is inhabited by a caribou which probably will prove on investi- 

 gation to be a new species, possibly identical with the West Mac- 

 kenzie form above referred to. The mountains to the north of the 

 Porcupine River in Alaska are said to contain a red caribou, 

 extremely rare, if not already exterminated. The caribou of the 

 Kuskoquim River in southern Alaska is said also to be distinct, 

 but is probably closely related to or the same as R. stonei. All 

 these undescribed Alaskan caribou will probably be found to be- 

 long to the Barren Ground group. 



Some five thousand domesticated reindeer from East Siberia 

 have been introduced among the Eskimo of northwest Alaska. 

 It is well within the probabilities that some of these animals may 

 escape, and, in time, form a w'ild race. At all events such a 

 possibility must hereafter be borne in mind. 



In the autumn of 1901 Mr. Andrew J. Stone discovered a 

 new species of Barren Ground Caribou on the Alaskan Peninsula, 



