TllK DEER AM> ELK 



slowly grinds up b a its molar t< eth into a pulp. The 



cropped grass passes into the honeycomb and paunch; the 

 manypli as a strainer for the pulp, which in the 



fourth Btomach is digested by th< 



The deer familj (i i is rej ed in the I ' 



States by the common Virginia deer (Cariaci s I irginianus, 

 . 313), the elk or wapiti (Cervus Canadensis, I ig. 314), 

 the caribou (Rani . which is probablya vai 



of the European reindeer (R. tarandus) t and the m 

 (.!'■- I mus). The common deer ra rom the 



Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada and British Co- 

 lumbia to Mexico; it is common about settlements and 

 near towns. The antlers differ from thi other i 



by bending more abruptly. Its summer coal is bay-red to 

 buff-yellow: the winter coal is a varying leaden gray. The 

 mule deer (C rvus m ■ Say) is so called from i 



It inhabits the northern Rocky Mountain 

 and the Pacific coast. I iwkward and ungainly com- 



pared with tin' common deer. black-tailed d< 



(Cervus Columbianus) is smaller than the mule deer, and 

 is confined to the Pa 6 coasl of the United Stales and 

 British Columbia. 



The elk or wapai i | Fig. 314) is nexl in size to the moi 

 the southern elk attaining the largesl is from 



,; " I to l • pounds. It has been exterminated in the 



ms east of the M >pi, and is now only common in 



the Rocky Mountain region, and to 

 Territory, and British Columbia. e hairs of the sum- 



mer coal and of the early winter coal are short and pn 

 solid, bul as the Beason advances it becom and 



crinkled, while in winter a heavy under-coal of fur is 

 always present.* The flesh is finely flavored and unusually 



muscles, which compresses tl f the rumen and reticulum, 



and drives the sodden fodder against the cardiac aperture ol the 

 stomach, which opens and the cud is propelled into the mouth. 

 (Huxley.) 



* The Antelope and Den q| America. By J. D. Caton. 187?. 



