I 



THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 39 



It derives its name, the ''red" deer, by which it is fre- 

 quently known in eastern Canada, from the rusty red or 

 yellowish-brown colour of its summer coat; but this name 

 is very undesirable, as it leads to confusion with the red 



Ijer of Europe. The red coat is replaced in the fall by a 

 bter coat of brownish gray. 

 Distribution. — The white-tailed deer is distributed from 

 ova Scotia to Alberta. Its favourite haunt is brushy 

 river bottoms and deep woods that are interspersed with 

 open spaces. In the plains regions of the west it haunts 

 the tree-lined water-courses. Where its favourite woods 

 have been cut down, as in the long-settled parts of Ontario, 

 it has disappeared. But, on the other hand, it has followed 

 the settlements into the wooded regions where the clearing 

 of the forest has provided it with the environment that it 

 prefers, and it has thus extended its range northward. On 

 the edges of settlements it secures greater protection from 

 the wolves that harass it in the deeper recesses of the for- 

 ests, and when its natural food is scarce it is able to satisfy 

 its hunger on the settlers' crops. 



Habits. — During the winter deer of both sexes herd to- 

 gether, often in fairly large bands; and they feed on ever- 

 greens, twigs, moss, and such dried grass as they are able 

 to obtain. With the advent of spring and the melting of 

 the snow the older bucks wander off, leaving the does with 

 the young deer of the previous year. In May the does seek 

 solitude in the thicker cover of the woods, and there bring 

 forth their young. In the first year they usually have one 

 fawn; in the second and subsequent years two fawns are 

 generally born. Sometimes three fawns are produced, but 

 such records are not common. The young fawns lie hidden 

 during the day and are visited periodically by the doe, 

 which never wanders far away from them. The coats of 

 the young fawns are of a rich brown colour, speckled with 

 white spots, thus forming a colouration that is very pro- 



