140 



AN AMERICAN HUNTER 



their time in the timber or in rough, hilly country, feed- 

 ing and bringing up their young in such localities. 



Typically, however, the prongbuck is preeminently a 

 beast of the great open plains, eating their harsh, dry 

 pasturage, and trusting to its own keen senses and speed 

 for its safety. All the deer are fond of skulking; the 

 whitetail preeminently so. The prongbuck, on the con- 

 trary, never endeavors to elude observation. Its sole aim 

 is to be able to see its enemies, and it cares nothing what- 

 ever about its enemies seeing it. Its coloring is very 

 conspicuous, and is rendered still more so by its habit 

 of erecting the white hair on its rump. It has a very 

 erect carriage, and when it thinks itself in danger it 

 always endeavors to get on some crest or low hill from 

 which it can look all about. The big bulging eyes, sit- 

 uated at the base of the horns, scan the horizon far and 

 near like twin telescopes. They pick out an object at 

 such a distance that it would entirely escape the notice of 

 a deer. When suspicious, they have a habit of barking, 

 uttering a sound something like " kau," and repeating 

 it again and again, as they walk up and down, en- 

 deavoring to find out if danger lurks in the unusual ob- 

 ject. They are extremely curious, and in the old days 

 it was often possible to lure them toward the hunter by 

 waving a red handkerchief to and fro on a stick, or even 

 by lying on one's back and kicking the legs. Nowadays, 

 however, there are very few localities indeed in which 

 they are sufficiently unsophisticated to make it worth 

 while trying these time-honored tricks of the long-van- 

 ished trappers and hunters. 



