SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 191 



large herds. Throughout most of the range the Woodland Cari- 

 bou inhabits the same country as the moose, although in the east 

 it is generally found somewhat to the north of the latter. 



The caribou of western Canada have until recently presented 

 some serious taxonomic difficulties. 



The mountains of northern Montana, Idaho, and Washing- 

 ton and the Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta are 

 inhabited by a caribou which has long been known as the " Black- 

 face " Caribou. This animal was thought to be identical with 

 the eastern Woodland Caribou until, in August, 1899, Mr. Ernest 

 Thompson- Seton described it as a new species under the name 

 of Rangifcr nwiitanus, the type being a mounted specimen from 

 Rcvelstoke, in the Selkirk range of British Columbia. The 

 northern limits of its range are at present unknown, but it is 

 possible that it fades gradually into the next species, Rangifer 

 osborni. Nearly tw^o years prior to the discovery of R. uion- 

 faiiits, Mr. Andrew J. Stone killed in the Cassiar Mountains of 

 northern British Columbia six specimens of a very large caribou, 

 which were shipped to the American Museum of Natural His- 

 torv in New^ York, but were delayed on the way and did not 

 reach New York until after the description of R. montanus had 

 been published. 



This new caribou from the Cassiar ^Mountains was generally 

 considered to be identical with R. montanus, but the writer be- 

 lieved, from antlers of the Cassiar animal he had seen, that further 

 comparison would result in proving them to be distinct species. 

 To this end he secured for the American Museum four caribou 

 from the type locality of R. montanus. As a result, the Cassiar 

 specimens were described as Rangifcr osborni, in honor of Pro- 

 fessor Henrv Fairfield Osborn. The R. osborni are found living 

 throughout the year in the high mountains above timber line, 

 and are the largest and handsomest caribou known — large males 

 weighing from 550 to 700 pounds, and consequently approaching 

 the wapiti in size. 



A specimen killed in the summer of 1902 measured 4 feet 

 1 1 inches in height at shoulder and 7 feet 9 inches in length. 

 This is one of the largest individual caribou of which we have 

 authentic record. 



Like most animals of the damp Pacific coast, both the R. 

 osborni and R. montanus are verv dark, the latter in fact almost 



