SECRETARY'S REPORT. 189 



limbs and the upper side of the tail, the fur is gray at its base, tipped with 

 yellowish-brown ; in this fur, and extending beyond it, is another more 

 hairy fur, which is gray at its base, tipped with light brown and black ; 

 this gives the color to the animal on its back and sides ; beneath the chin 

 and throat, the upper lip, and beneath the body and tail, and between the 

 legs, the fur is gray at its base, tipped with white and light ash ; breast, 

 the color of the sides ; beneath the feet, yellowish-brown. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length of head, 31 to S^ inches. 



Length of head and body, 14 to IG inches. 



Length of ears, 3 to 3| inches. 



Length of tail, not including hairs at tip, 1 inch. 



Length of tail, including hairs at tip, 2^ inches. 



Length of hind-foot, 3|^ to 4 inches. 



Length of fore-foot, H to 2 inches. 



Order: RTJMINANTIA. 

 Family: Cervid^. — (Deer Family.) 



Characteristics. — Head generally furnished with horns which are solid 

 and shed, in most species, annually ; ears, large ; incisors, wanting in the 

 upper jaw, eight in the lower jaw ; molars, twelve in each jaw ; body, 

 well proportioned ; limbs, long and slender ; feet, bifid. 



Genus : Cervus. — (Linn.) 

 Characteristics. — Heads of the males always furnished with horns, 

 which are branched, sub-palmated or simple ; nose, naked and moist ; 

 ears, large ; mammae, four, placed between the thighs ; tail, short, bushy. 



Cervus Virginianus, (Boddsert.) — American Deek. [PI. II.] 

 This beautiful animal is now rare in this State and will soon, probably, 

 be extinct ; it is found in the woods in Plymouth and Barnstable counties, 

 in the neighborhood of the Hoosac mountains, and on several of the 

 islands on the south-east coast. It possesses great muscular power, and 

 runs with surprising speed ; having a keen sense of hearing and smelling, 

 and, being very timid and shy, it is very difficult to be approached. 

 During the rutting season the males are restless and bold, and will often 

 attack man, — the wounds it inflicts with its antlers and sharp hoofs ren- 

 dering it an ugly customer ; when alarmed it stamps the ground and 

 eni!t3 a shrill whistle through its nose. Its horns are shed in winter in 

 the followJhg manner : the young horns, growing on processes of the 

 frontal bone, are increased in size beneath the skin, by an action anala- 

 gous to that by which injuries to the bones are repaired ; as they become 



