American Big Game in its Haunts 



antlers curving forward and tines projecting from 

 its hinder border, takes practically the whole of 

 America in its range, and under the law of varia- 

 tion which has been stated, has proved a veritable 

 gold mine to the makers of names. At present it 

 is utterly useless to attempt to determine which of 

 the forms described will stand the scrutiny of the 

 future, and no more will be attempted here than to 

 state the present gross contents of cervine literature. 

 The sub-genus Dorcelaphus contains all the forms 

 of the United States; of these, the deer belonging 

 east of the Missouri River, those from the great 

 plains to the Pacific, those along the Rio Grande 

 in Texas and Mexico, those of Florida, and those 

 again of Sonora, are each rated as sub-species of 

 virglniana; to which we must add six more, ranging 

 from Mexico to Bolivia. One full species, M. 

 truel, has been described from Central America, 

 and another rather anomalous creature (M. 

 crookii) , resembling both white-tail and mule deer, 

 from New Mexico. 



The other sub-genera are Blastoceros, with 

 branched antlers and no metatarsal gland ; Xenela- 

 phus, smaller in size, with small, simply forked 

 antlers and no metatarsal gland ; Mazama, contain- 

 ing the so-called brockets, very small, with minute 

 spike antlers, lacking the metatarsal and sometimes 



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