The North American Cervidce. 



H5 



HKAD OF AMKKICAN ELK. 



the greater portion of its former habitat, and to-day there is prob- 

 ably only one very circumscribed locality east of the Mississippi River 

 where it is to be found in the feral state. In the dense forests of the 

 lower peninsula of Michigan it is said that a few still exist, but their 

 numbers are becoming less each year, and before long they will all 

 have disappeared. West of the Missouri River, and in the Rocky 

 Mountains, there are regions in which this species is even yet mod- 

 erately abundant ; but it is now impossible to find them anywhere in 

 such numbers as formerly. Less than ten years ago, there were 

 many secluded localities in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, where, 

 in the late autumn and winter, these animals would collect in bands 

 numbering thousands of individuals ; but at the present day it is 

 unusual to see one hundred together. The hide of the elk has a 

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