114 ROEBUCK. REIN-DEER. ELK. 



horns, in place of being branched and round, are flattened and 

 palmate. The two species dislike each other and never dwell or 

 pasture in the same places. Fallow-deers ordinarily live twenty 

 years, and attain their full growth at the end of three. They are 

 rarely found wild ; they are reared in parks, and are kept for the 

 amusement and luxury of the great. 



33. They browse more closely than the Stag, and feed on 

 many vegetables that Stags refuse to eat ; they are very in- 

 jurious to young trees, which they despoil of their bark. 



34. The Roebuck, Cermis Cupreolus, is of a more or less 

 deep yellowish gray, white buttock and almost without tail. 

 He lives in the tall forests of temperate Europe. His horns are 

 six or eight inches long ; they are strong, straight and divided at 

 the extremity into three branches. The length of the Roebuck 

 rarely exceeds three feet and his height two and a half. He is 

 very animated, and his sense of smell is very acute. The dura- 

 tion of his life is from twelve to fifteen years. 



35. Roebucks differ from all other deer in their habits. They 

 do not live in troops, but in families, The female manifests the 

 highest degree of maternal solicitude and affection ; she brings 

 forth two fawns at a birth, ordinarily a male and a female. 



36. The Rein- Deer, Cervus Tarandvs, is of the size of the 

 stag, but has shorter legs. The female, like the male, has horns 

 which at a certain age are branched, in the form of enlarged den- 

 ticulate palms. (Plate 5. fig. 8.) The people of the northern 

 nations employ them in drawing sledges and carrying burthens, 

 and eat their flesh arid milk, Their activity is such that two 

 Rein-Deers harnessed to a sledge will travel from forty to fifty 

 leagues in a single day. 



37. The Elk, Cervus dices, (Moose Deer,) is the largest 

 of all the animals of this genus ; his stature sometimes exceeds that 

 of a horse. His horns which stand out from the sides of the head, 

 form two flattened plates, deeply denticulated on the anterior 

 edge ; their weight sometimes reaches fifty pounds ; and to sup- 

 port them nature has given this animal a shorter and stouter neck 

 than any other deer : he is nevertheless, taller than most of them, 

 which forces him, when grazing on the ground, either to kneel or 

 spread his feet; but he feeds principally on leaves and high grass. 

 He delights in low forests and swamps, and inhabits the north of 



33. Upon, what does the Fallow-Deer feed ? 



34. What are the characters of the Roebuck ? 



35. What are the habits of Roebucks ? , 



36. What are the characters of the Rein-deer ? To what purpose is this 

 animal applied ? 



37. What are the characters of the Elk ? What are his habits ? 



