84 



THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA. 



the bank of the stream, where he is accustomed to 

 make the crossing, whether at his leisure or when 

 pursued. This is just what the watcher is hoping 

 and expecting. While he hears the distant baying 

 of the pack, he is intently listening for the least 

 noise in the near forest which could indicate the 

 approach of the game. And now he hears the 

 breaking of a dry limb, or the heavy tramp among 

 the rustling leaves. If his pulse quickens a little, 

 as it surely will, still no tremor or agitation is felt, 

 but only tension and firmness are established in 

 every ner\'e and in every muscle. The trusty rifle 

 is quickly brought to the cheek, and the next 

 instant, with a lofty bound, the magnificent but 

 graceful form of the stately stag bursts from the 

 border of the covert, his face in a horizontal line, 

 his antlers thrown back upon his shoulders, so that 

 every branch and vine must easily glance from the 

 backward pointing tines, his seat erect, and his 

 bright eye glistening in the excitement of the 

 moment, when instantly and while he is yet in 

 mid-air, a sharp report is heard, when, to use a 

 hunter's expression, 'he lets go all holds,' his hind- 

 feet, propelled by the great momentum, are thrown 

 high in the air as if his very hoofs would be snapped 

 off, and he falls, all in a heap, or turns a complete 

 somersault, and then rolls upon the ground pierced 

 through the heart, or with both fore -shoulders 

 smashed. . . . It is a glorious moment, and 

 unsurpassed by human experience. I have been 

 there, and know how it is myself, and so I speak 

 from knowledge. Had the deer been standing, 

 and with a full inspiration, he might have made 

 a few bounds before he fell, but in the position 

 described he could never rise again." — Caton, The 

 Antelope and Deer of America^ 



A group less rich in species is formed by 

 the Cervida with broad shovel-like antlers, in 

 which the beam and the tines show a tendency 

 to become flat. 



The Fallow-deer {Dama vulgaris), shown 

 in PI. XXVI., is still to be seen in our in- 

 closures for game. Its home was Central and 

 Southern Europe, including the Asiatic and 

 African countries bordering on the Mediter- 

 ranean. I n point of size the fallow-deer stands 

 between the roe-deer and the stag. 1 1 is more 

 thickset and not so long-legged as the latter, 

 but has much shorter and more elegant ears 



and a longer tail. Though less in height it 

 is more graceful than the stag, which appears 

 always to serve as the model for the draughts- 

 man. The elegantly curved antlers have a 

 round beam with one or two tines of which the 

 brow-tine stands very near the burr. After 

 the beam has given off these tines it spreads 

 out into a shovel from the edge of which 

 proceed small tooth-like prongs. The colour 

 of the fallow-deer is very variable; in some 

 the coat is spotted like that of a fawn, in 

 others again uniformly reddish, grayish, or 

 even white. The fallow-deer easily accustoms 

 itself to the presence of man, and its flesh is 

 much more tender and palatable than that of 

 the stag. 



The Reindeer {Tarandus rangifer {Ran- 

 gifer tarandus) ), fig. 163, is the deer of the 

 polar regions in both hemispheres. With 

 the exception of the elk it is probably the 

 least elegant species in the whole family. 

 The long body is supported by relatively 

 short and thick legs, which have swollen and 

 knotty joints, and end in broad divergent 

 hoofs, and which carry accessory hoofs almost 

 touching the ground. The head is borne 

 horizontally, not erect as in the other deer. 

 It is short, and has a blunt naked muffle. 

 The reindeer is the only species of deer in 

 which the female carries antlers as well as 

 the male. Those of the female are indeed 

 smaller than those of the male, but otherwise 

 resemble the latter very closely in form, 

 although in both the form is very variable. 

 It is indeed impossible to find two reindeer 

 antlers of the same form, or even a single 

 symmetrically formed pair; the two branches 

 of the antlers are always unlike. We must 

 accordingly seek out the common characters 

 from a great number of variations. These 

 consist in a thin flattened beam, which has a 

 well-marked curve first backwards and then 

 upwards, and near the burr gives off" two 

 tines within a short distance of each other. 

 At their extremity these tines spread out 

 considerably and frequently even fork again. 



