37 8 UNGULATES. 



in Labrador many still remain, though gradually retreating thence towards the 

 more secluded and inaccessible portions of the country. From Upper Canada all 

 are gone, and but few remain in Lower Canada, where, fifty years since, they 

 were abundant. What are left have retreated to the great dense forests of the 

 north." 



Elk feed more upon the leaves and twigs of trees than upon 

 grass ; and their length of limb enables them to pluck such nutri- 

 ment with facility, while the shortness of their necks renders them unfitted for 

 grazing, unless in places where the grass is unusually tall, when they merely pluck 

 the tops. In Northern Europe and Asia birch, willows, aspens, and poplars afford 

 a large proportion of the leafy food of the elk ; but in North America both ever- 

 green and deciduous trees contribute their quota. Various lichens and mosses are, 

 however, also eaten ; but in winter, when the whole country is deeply buried in snow, 

 the elk have to depend solely on twigs and buds of trees. In order to obtain the 

 foliage of saplings which are above their reach, elk in America, at least, have a 

 curious habit of straddling on either side of the stem with their fore-legs, and then 

 gradually pressing down the tree with the weight of their body. 



In America elk commence feeding with the first signs of dawn, and continue 

 till sunrise, after which they repose or ruminate till ten or eleven o'clock. 

 From that time they again feed till about two, when they take another period of 

 repose till four or five, and then feed till dusk, when they lie down for the night. 

 Mr. Lockhart says that elk "generally lie down with their tails to windward, trusting 

 to their senses of hearing and smelling, which are remarkably acute, to warn them 

 of approaching danger from that quarter. They can use their eyes to warn them 

 from danger to leeward, where hearing, and especially smelling, would be of little 

 use. While sleeping or chewing the cud, their ears are in perpetual motion, one 

 backward, the other forward, alternately. They also have the remarkable instinct 

 to make a short turn and sleep below the wind of their fresh track, so that any 

 one falling thereon and following it up is sure to be heard or smelt before he can 

 get within shooting distance." 



In summer the favourite resorts of the American elk are in the neighbourhood 

 of swamps, rivers, or lakes, where long grasses which can be easily reached grow in 

 rank abundance. In winter, however, they generally betake themselves to higher 

 grounds, although always those clothed with dense and almost impenetrable forest. 

 When disturbed, the elk, in spite of his great bulk, makes off with extreme rapidity 

 and almost perfect silence, even in the thickest cover, always when possible 

 selecting moss-clad and yielding ground over which to make its way. 



In winter, elk in America are in the habit of consorting in small parties, often 

 comprising a male, female, and the young of two seasons, and taking up their 

 quarters in what is termed a moose-yard. " The yard," writes Mr. C. C. Ward, " is 

 situated in some part of the country where there is an abundant growth of young 

 deciduous trees, such as the white birch, poplars, maple, and mountain-ash ; these, 

 together with a few of the coniferous trees, the balsam-fir and juniper, form the 

 staple diet of the moose. Some writers maintain that the bull moose never yards 

 with the female and young, but this is disproved by my own experience as a moose- 

 hunter. ... I have on many occasions found and killed males occupying the same 



