THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 61 



very large, but at all times they roam widely. The great 

 herds in the fall of the year perform a more or less regular 

 movement in the nature of migrations, and within certain 

 limits their course of travel and times of arrival at given 

 points are well known." This coincides with the informa- 

 tion that I have received from Mi. Black, Doctor Alfred 

 Thompson, M.P., and other local observers. It is probable 

 that the greater certainty with which the migratory move- 

 Iments of these herds in the Yukon can be predicted, as 

 [compared with the caribou of the Barren Grounds of the 

 [orthwest Territories, is due to the difference in the topog- 

 [raphy of the country, and the greater restriction in possible 

 [routes of travel in the Yukon. In connection with these 

 smaller herds in the Alaska- Yukon region it is important 

 to remember that too much confidence should not be placed 

 in the presence of such herds as indications of ^ wide spread, 

 as there is a tendency among such gregarious animals to 

 band together more readily when their numbers become 

 more decreased, and thus a false impression of abundance 

 may be given. 



Migratory and Other Habits. — The most remarkable habit 

 displayed by the barren-ground caribou is its periodical 

 migrations southward in autumn and northward in the 

 spring. During the summer time they keep to the open 

 barren ground and the sea-coast. Here they find abundance 

 of food, such as tender grasses, the shoots and buds of 

 dwarf birch and willow, and they are able to escape to some 

 extent their insect tormentors. In the autumn they turn 

 southward towards the woods, and the winter is spent in 

 these regions that provide shelter and food, such as moss, 

 lichens, and tree-buds. The males are in very poor condi- 

 tion towards the end of October, after the rutting season, 

 their horns being at their best towards the end of Sep- 

 tember. About a month later the males and females sepa- 

 rate, and, according to Warburton Pike, who made valu- 



