XI 

 AMERICAN BIG GAME. FEBRUARY 



We have observed quite a number of birds and mammals, 

 and among them a few that are hunted or trapped for sport 

 or profit. Who will name a few of these animals ? We 

 have frequently had occasion to note that most birds and 

 smaller mammals prefer a settled and partially cleared 

 country to the wild primeval forests. If the smaller mam- 

 mals were taken only in the season when their fur or their 

 meat is good, we should always have plenty of them around 

 us; but they must be kept in check, for in large numbers 

 many of them would become a great pest to the agriculturist. 

 When, however, we find them in places where they do no 

 appreciable harm, no boy will kill them for the mere love 

 of destruction. 



Now I will tell you about a few large animals whose home 

 has always been in the large forests and who have disap- 

 peared from all the thickly settled regions of our country. 

 Probably you have all heard about the graceful Virginia 

 Deer, the stately Elk, the majestic Moose, and also about 

 the Wolf and the Black Bear. 



69. The Virginia Deer, or Red Deer. Cervus Vlrginianus. 



MATERIAL : Picture ; mounted heads ; antlers ; visit to museum or 

 zoological garden. 



This beautiful animal was formerly very common from 

 Maine and southern Canada to the Rocky Mountains, and 



Note. Give the pupils some good reading along the line of Nature 

 Study. See Appendix. 



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