86 CERVID^E. 



similar. In summer its prevailing colour is a light 

 chestnut red, darkest on the neck and legs, the throat 

 and centre of the belly being almost black; the 

 chin is dusky, with a narrow patch of light yellow on 

 either side, and a broad one of the same colour under 

 the head. The rump is yellowish white, bordered by a 

 dusky band extending down the hind legs; the hair is 

 very brittle, and the tail much shorter than that of 

 the European stag. In autumn it turns grey, and con- 

 tinues so through the winter. The ears, though large, 

 are shorter in proportion to the size of the animal than 

 those of the moose, and are more sharply pointed. The 

 antlers, which are exceedingly handsome and of great 

 size, often between four and five feet in height, are 

 cylindrical, brown in colour, and of very rough surface 

 except at the points, which are worn quite smooth and 

 white. All the snags spring from the anterior face of 

 the horn : the longest two from the base, the one 

 above the other; while two and sometimes three others 

 spring at nearly equal distances higher up; they are 

 usually shed in March and April. In the young animals 

 Baird* describes the horns as being " club-shaped spikes, 

 truncate at the end, curved as in the adult, and with- 

 out branches." 



* Mammals of North America. 



