DEER. 



37i 



yellowish, wearing white in places. Reindeer fawns are uniformly coloured like 

 the adult. 



The various races of reindeer differ considerably from one another in respect 

 of height ; but the bucks of the larger American variety stand about \\ feet at the 

 withers, and usually weigh some 350 lbs., although unusually fine specimens may 

 reach nearly 400 lbs. In regard to the length of the antlers, it appears that fine 

 examples vary from 48 to just over 57 inches, although one pair is known in which 



REINDEER ( ft nat. size). 



the length reaches to upwards of 60 inches. There is great variation in regard to the 

 span of antlers, and the number of points they cany; while it is not unfrequently 

 the case that the longest specimens have by no means the greatest girth. 

 Distribution. Reindeer inhabit the northern regions of both the Eastern and 



Western Hemispheres, and English zoologists are pretty generally 

 agreed that there is but a single species. In America, however, where they are 

 known by the French-Canadian name caribou (a corruption of carrebceuf, literally 

 ^ square-ox"), it is considered that there are either one or two species distinct 

 from the Old World form. Thus, whereas Mr. Caton regards the smaller North 



