THE CARIBOU. 



BY WILLIAM PITTMAN LETT ( " ALGONQUIN "). 



Woodland Caribou (llangifer Tarandus] is simi- 

 lar, in generic character and form, to the Barren- 

 ground Caribou, but averages nearly twice as large, 

 and has shorter and stouter horns in proportion to 

 its size. It inhabits Labrador and Northern Canada, and 

 thence may be found south to Nova Scotia, New Bruns- 

 wick, and Newfoundland, the northern part of the State of 

 Maine, and Lower Canada on both sides of the St. Law- 

 rence; thence westerly, in the country north of Quebec, to 

 the vicinity of Lake Superior. It never migrates toward 

 the north in summer, as is the habit of the Tarandus 

 Arcticus, but makes its migration in a southerly direc- 

 tion. In this particular it acts in a manner directly oppo- 

 site to the course pursued by the smaller species. 



Following is the description given of this Deer by Audu- 

 bon: 



Larger and less graceful than the common American Deer. Body short 

 and heavy; neck stout; hoofs thin and flattened, broad and spreading, exca- 

 vated or concave beneath; accessory hoofs large and thin; legs short; no gland- 

 ular opening, and scarcely a perceptible inner tuft on the hind legs; nose 

 somewhat like that of a cow, but fully covered with soft hairs of a somewhat 

 moderate length; no beard, but on the under side of the neck a line of hairs, 

 about four inches in length, hanging down in a longitudinal direction; ears 

 small, blunt, and oval, thickly covered with hair on both surfaces. 



Horns one foot three and a half inches in height, slender, one with two and 

 the other with one prong; prongs about five inches long; hair soft and woolly 

 underneath, the longer hairs, like those of the Antelope, crimped or waved, and 

 about one to one and a half inches long. 



At the roots the hairs are whitish, becoming brownish-gray, and at the tops 

 light dun-gray, whiter on the neck than elsewhere; nose, ears, and outer sur- 

 face of legs brownish; a slight shade of the same tinge behind the fore legs. 

 Hoofs black, and throat dull-w r hite; a faint whitish patch on the side of the 

 shoulders; forehead brownish-white; tail white, with a shade of brown at the root 



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