HOOFED ANIMALS 



The Altai and the Manchurian Wapiti of Asia are very 

 similar animals, less in bulk, but with antlers bigger in 

 proportion. These Deer appear to agree with the sugges- 

 tion that the American Wapiti originally reached the New 

 World from Asia by way of Bering Strait. 



MISCELLANEOUS AMERICAN DEER. 



The Elk, Reindeer, and Wapiti are in many respects 

 allied to different species in the Old World ; but the 

 remaining Deer of the New World show marked differ- 

 ences in the construction of the skull and in the shape 

 of the antlers. There are no brow tines, and the beams 

 consist either of simple spikes or branches of a fork-like 

 character. The chief species are the following : 



The Virginian, or 

 White-tailed Deer (Cariacus 

 virginianus) is by far the 

 commonest Deer of North 

 America, different varieties 

 ranging throughout the 

 United States from Mexico 

 to Canada. It is a grace- 

 ful animal, slightly smaller 

 than the Fallow Deer, 

 with a coat of reddish 

 yellow in summer and 

 light grey in winter. The 

 antlers differ a great deal 

 in the several varieties, but 

 the front prong of the 

 main fork is generally 

 better developed than the hinder one. 



The animal is shy and timid, and as it is extremely 

 speedy and an excellent swimmer, its capture is by no 

 means easy. A well-known hunter describes it as ' an 

 exasperating little beast/ in whose haunts the sportsman on 

 foot must needs almost crawl if he wish to bag his quarry. 

 Often the Deer make their home in cane-grass seven feet 

 high, through which the hunters ride on horseback, driving 



ANTLERS OF THE VIRGINIAN DEER. 



