62 Field Mjjseum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XL 



Description — Adult: Color of sexes similar; antlers of male as illus- 

 trated, rarely exceeding 29 inches in length and usually less; in 

 summer, general color, reddish brown; belly, under surface and tip 

 of tail, inner side of legs and a patch on the throat, white; a whitish 

 band across the nose and a ring around each eye ; a blackish spot on 

 each side of the chin; upper surface of tail dusky; in winter, general 

 color grayish or grayish brown. Female normally without horns. 



Young: Reddish brown or bright bay, spotted with white; 

 the spots gradually fade and disappear when the fawn is between 4 

 and 5 months old. 

 Measurements — Adult male: Length, about 60 to 68 inches; tail, about 

 10 inches (to end of hairs about 3 inches more); height at shoulder 

 variable, about 36 inches. 



Although formerly Deer were very abundant throughout Illinois, 

 they are now practically exterminated in the state. It is claimed that a 

 very few still linger in the extreme southern counties. Mr. B. T. Gault, 

 in a letter to me, dated January 20, 1910, writes: ''In the fall of 1900 

 there were several Deer in the hill country not far from Thebes, Alexander 

 County (southern Illinois) , but I have since been told that they have all 

 been killed off." He later kindly sent me a letter from Mr. C. J. Boyd 

 of Anna, Illinois, dated April 7, 19 10, in which he writes: "There are a 

 few Deer in the hills in this county and in Alexander County. It was 

 reported that a doe and two fawns were seen close to the line of this 

 county and Alexander County last summer" (1909). Butler states 

 (Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 1895, p. 83) that a Deer was seen in Newton 

 County,* Indiana, in 1891. Mr. E. J. Chansler of Bicknell, Knox 

 County, Indiana, writes: "The last wild Deer was reported from near 

 Red Cloud by the late N. B. Edwards in 1893." This seems to be the 

 last record for that state. 



In Wisconsin, where Deer are still abundant in the more northern 

 counties, they are larger and are recognized as a distinct race (O. v. 

 borealis), the difference, however, being mainly one of size. 



In the southern states two other geographical races are recognized, 

 the Louisiana Deer and the Florida Deer, the latter being decidedly 

 smaller than the Virginia Deer, full grown bucks often weighing not 

 over no pounds. These, however, are smaller than the average, and I 

 have killed at least one specimen in southern Florida which weighed 

 more than 200 pounds. f 



Deer hunting is a favorite sport for many people, and I plead guilty 

 of having killed a considerable number in my time ; but as we grow older 



* Newton County, Indiana, borders Illinois in the Kankakee region. 



t For many years I carried steelyards with me in the field for the purpose of 

 weighing large game. One buck weighed 204 lbs., and during a dozen years I have 

 killed others which I did not weigh but which were fully as large. 



