86 THE COMMON AMERICAN DEEE. 



CHAPTEE Y. 



THE COMMON AMERICAN DEER. 



CERVUS VIEGINIANUS CERATJS MEXICANUS. 



Characteristics. — Steel-grey or red, according to the season. 

 The fawns for the first six months after birth are spotted with 

 white. All these spots are lost by the time it is one year 

 old. Horns of a moderate size, curving forward, with from 

 one to six points on each beam. Only palmated masses of 

 malformation. 



Description. — The head long and slender, with pointed 

 muzzle ; large black and lustrous eyes, with a very soft ex- 

 pression, — often compared by Western men to those of an 

 Indian maiden ; lachrymal cells, long and narrow, and partly 

 concealed by a fold of skin ; the legs are long and slender, 

 and upon the inner side of the houghs are glandular pouches, 

 concealed by a tuft of thick yellowish-red hairs; strongly 

 odoriferous in the rutting or running season. 



Colour. — Steel-grey in late autumn or winter ; red in the 

 spring ; darker red or red-brown in the summer. The red 

 or grey, according to the season, is uniform over the head, 

 back, and sides of the deer ; the chin, throat, belly, and in- 

 sides of the thighs always white. The tail black above and 

 white underneath ; from being waved high when the animal 

 is startled, it is technically known as ' the fiag.' 



