22 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



representative of the handsome Wapiti of North America, and 

 visitors to the Zoological Gardens in London have an opportunity 

 of comparing the two animals, and thus ascertaining for themselves 

 how difficult it is to separate them. On my last visit to the Zoo I 

 very carefully examined both kinds of Deer, and the only external 

 distinguishing features that I considered worthy of note were the 

 darker collar, broad muzzle and fine Roman nose of the Turkestan 

 Wapiti. He, poor old chap, was at the time of my visit in a sad 

 state, evidently being in a decline, and quickly qualifying as an 

 inmate of the newly-erected dead-house hard by his den. 



One hears some very funny remarks at the Zoo from persons 

 who go there sight-seeing rather than to study and note the charac- 

 teristics of the animal inhabitants. Thus a friend of mine who was 

 with me on the day in question was feeding some of the foreign 

 birds in the aviaries. The keeper had ready for him a tin of meal- 

 worms, and for these tasty tit-bits the feathered creatures evinced 

 keen delight. A woman standing by me, her curiosity evidently 

 aroused to the utmost of its capacity, remarked to her companion : 

 "Oh ! look at that gentleman feeding those birds on shrimps ! " 



With the exception, then, of the Moose, the Wapiti Stag is the 

 largest Deer in existence. It has a somewhat shaggy coat of 

 yellowish-brown, and its fine symmetry and graceful bearing is well 

 shown off by the large antlers, which are nicely portrayed in the 

 accompanying picture. Antlers have been shed in the Gardens 

 weighing between thirty and forty pounds the pair. 



In former times the Wapiti had a wide range in North America, 

 but civilization has made its mark with this as with other animals, 

 and to-day it is decreasing everywhere, and in many districts has 

 been entirely eliminated. How America came to possess the Wapiti 

 is only a matter of conjecture, but the probability is that it migrated 

 into the New World in former days by way of Behring Straits, and 

 there are in Asia a number of Stags which, from west to east, 

 approach the true Wapiti more and more closely. 



Known also as the Elk, the animal under review is much larger 

 than our own Red Deer, and those who have seen large specimens 

 of this handsome species to which the Wapiti is closely related- 

 will be able to form some idea of its magnificence. Fearless fighters, 

 when two males meet the combat is a fierce one to witness, and when 

 the rutting season is in full swing it must be a wonderful sight to 

 observe the Stags fighting desperately and challenging all comers 



