286 



ZOOLOGY. 



twigs of trees and shrubs, and it is the only one of the 

 family which will browse on coniferous trees. 



The prong-horn antelope (Antilocapra Americana, Fig. 

 316; see also Frontispiece) so characteristic of the western 

 plains, like the true deer, drops its horns in the autumn, 



Fig. 316.— Prong-horn Antelope, young. 



though they are hollow when shed, and with a persistent 

 core, as in the ox and goat. The antelope crops grass, 

 not, like the deer, eating leaves of trees and shrubs. It is. 

 the fleetest animal on the plains, though short-winded and 

 not capable of running a great distance. 



In its horns, hollow when cast off, and in the presence 

 of a gall-bladder, which is absent in the deer family, the 

 prong-horn antelope connects the deer family with the 

 Bovidce, which are represented by the sheep, goat, antelope, 

 gazelle, and ox. 



