NOTES ON THE EEINDEER OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 273 



XXVI. 



NOTES ON THE EEINDEEE (CAEIBOU) OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 

 By T. G. B. LLOYD, C.E., F.G.S., Member of the Anthropological Institute, &c., &c. 



Two species (or varieties?) of Eeindeer have been distinguished by zoologists 

 on the North- American continent, under the terms of the "Woodland" and the 

 "Barren-Ground Caribou"*. To the former of these belong the Caribou of 

 Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. 



The Caribou of Newfoundland grows to a large size. The average weight of a 

 full-grown stag may be taken at about 300 Ibs. ; I have been informed by an 

 Indian hunter that a very large one will weigh 400 Ibs.; and Captain Hardy 

 states, in his ' Forest Life in Acadie,' that a very large buck will exceed that 

 weight : but Mr. Alexander Murray, F.G.S., of St. John's, Newfoundland, puts 

 the weight at 250 Ibs. 



The varieties in the growth of the Antlers have been so fully described by 

 previous writers that little need be added to their descriptions. A brow-snag, 

 picked up on the barrens near the west coast of the island, measured across its 

 palmated extremity the unusual breadth of 18 inches. 



Mr. Alexander Murray informed me that the Caribou of the island has not 

 been known to live more than two years under confinement. 



During the rutting-season, which, beginning early in October, lasts about three 

 weeks, the flesh, marrow, and internal organs of the stags acquire a peculiar 

 odour, which slightly reminds one of the Skunk. At that time the meat is con- 

 sidered by the Indians to be uneatable ; but I found the marrow and kidneys 

 not at all unpalatable f. In the spring and winter their principal food is the 



* See Professor Baird's " Description of North-American Mammalia " (' Pacific Eailroad Eeports '), Sir J. 

 Eichardson's 'Fauna Boreali- Americana,' and Dr. King's 'Account of Back's Expedition.' In 'Harper's 

 Magazine ' for November 1874 it is stated that Judge Caton, of Illinois, visited Europe during the preceding 

 summer to study the Deer, and, contrary to his former conclusions, based on imperfect evidence, is satisfied 

 that between the American and European Caribou there is no specific difference. 



t Prof. W. H. Flower informs me that the Eeindeer, like most other Euminants, has a gland between 

 the hoofs, which secretes an oily substance, the scent of which is supposed to assist the Deer in their search 

 for one another. 



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