NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 281 



zone quite across the United States, barely entering southern 

 Canada; to the southward it extends to Central America and 

 northern South America. Over this wide range it develops 

 several local races, some of which are in danger of being un- 

 duly reduced. A brief survey of these is here given, since this 

 animal is one of our most important game species. 



The total length from nose to tail is given by Baird as 59 

 inches for a doe from Virginia; tail about 9 inches. Males are 

 slightly larger and heavier, weighing up to 200 pounds. In 

 winter coat, "pale grayish chestnut, faintly annulated"; in 

 summer "bright uniform rufous" the "blue" and the "red" 

 coats of hunters. Under parts of body and tail, inside of the 

 limbs, the area between the jaws, and lining of ears, white; 

 a pale eye-ring. Tips of ears and a spot at the angle of the 

 mouth black. Antlers with a basal prong, the beam curving 

 up, out, and then slightly inward and forward, usually with 

 three erect prongs, but often with additional small points. 



The typical race of Virginia deer is believed to range from 

 central or southern Pennsylvania south to the region of Palm 

 Beach in eastern Florida; westward it extends at least to the 

 Mississippi basin in Ohio and Kentucky, and formerly to the 

 edge of the Plains. Over most of this range it still is found in 

 woodland regions and survives in spite of persistent hunting, 

 even in fairly well-inhabited areas. 



In New Jersey and southern Pennsylvania the white-tailed 

 deer formerly abounded, but Rhoads (1903) in the early years 

 of this century writes of it as confined to limited areas in 

 southern New Jersey, while from the lowlands of the Susque- 

 hanna, Allegheny, Monongahela, and Delaware River Valleys 

 it was exterminated. In New Jersey it was found then in 

 Burlington, Atlantic, Cape May, and Ocean Counties in small 

 numbers. At the same time in West Virginia deer were "still 

 rather plentiful" though much less abundant than in earlier 

 times (F. E. Brooks, 1911), and this is generally true for other 

 nearby States. Thus C. S. Brimley (1905) reports it rare or 

 absent in the more thickly settled parts of North Carolina 

 but "not uncommon" in the eastern section of the State and 

 in the mountains. Dr. Francis Harper (1937) notes that in 

 the Okefinokee Swamp region of southern Georgia it was 

 "abundant in former times" but "had become greatly reduced 

 in numbers through excessive hunting in late years, even before 



