and the Maritime Provinces. 41 



" It 's very queer," said the Judge, " but it is sometimes the ' tenderfoot ' 

 who gets the game. I have often known an amateur, in fact one who had 

 never cast a fly, to go on a river and rise and hook a salmon at almost the 

 first cast." 



" Yes," answered the Doctor, " and it is not unusual for a tenderfoot to 

 shoot a deer in his first day's outing, and I once knew of two young men 

 who were absolutely beginners in hunting who actually called up and shot 

 a handsome bull moose ; there is no accounting for such luck, for it was 

 nothing else ; their ' calling ' consisted of a number of unearthly noises 

 which resembled anything but the call of the cow, but the bull came just 

 the same." 



" The moose is more local in its habits, I believe," said the Judge, 

 when the Doctor had concluded ; " that is, I mean it is not such a wan- 

 derer as the caribou." 



" No," replied the Doctor, " the caribou is one of the most restless 

 wanderers on earth ; here to-day, there to-morrow, he is a pretty uncertain 

 animal for the hunter's pursuit. The Woodland caribou is found more or 

 less abundantly from Alaska to Newfoundland, and in some localities is 

 still quite plentiful, as for example, the wilderness of New Brunswick and 

 Maine. In Nova Scotia it is much less common than it was a few years 

 ago and it is gradually decreasing in numbers. In the northern part of 

 Cape Breton it is more abundant." 



" It is a different animal from the so-called Barren-ground caribou or 

 reindeer, is it not " ? asked the Judge. 



" Yes, the latter is much more Arctic in its habitat." 



"Don't you think, Doctor," I asked, "that the Labrador caribou is 

 the same as those found in Newfoundland ? You know they cross on the 

 ice in winter." 



" Possibly it is," he replied, " Mr. Outram Bangs of Boston has 

 studied these animals and he pronounces the Newfoundland caribou a 

 distinct species from ours." 



" In that case " said the Judge, " there are three species." 



" Yes, but in New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia there is 

 but one, I believe, the Woodland caribou. It is a wonderful example of the 

 adaptation of form and habits to certain conditions. Think of an animal 

 of the size of this handsome deer, one whose height is nearly, if not quite, 

 five feet and whose weight sometimes exceeds four hundred pounds, that 

 subsists almost entirely on lichens and mosses ; it seems almost incredible, 

 yet such is the fact. In winter it scrapes the snow away with its hoofs 



17. The length of the blades of the antlers was 44 inches, and each had 

 a width of 15 inches. The spread of the antlers was but 57 inches, but 

 the spread of the brow antlers was nearly as great as at the widest point." 



