88 U. S. p. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS — 47TH PARALLEL. 



Length, 13 to 15 inches. Ear, 3 inches. Heel, 3 inches. Fore leg, below elbow joint, 3^. 

 Head, 3 inches. 



I was told of another kind of small rabbit of a bluish tint, shorter ears, and which burrowed 

 in the ground, but I could not get any. The accounts of it were also conflicting. 



CERVUS CANADENSIS, Erxl. 



Elk. 



Baird, Gen Rep. Mammals, 1857, 5.17. 



The elk is abundant in the dense forests of the Coast Range, and found in less numbers in 

 the other woode(t*portions of the Territory. It is very wary, and difficult to kill at most times, 

 but is often shot on the small jirairies, near the heads of rivers, where it feeds in the evening 

 and early morning. In severe winters, also, when they leave the mountains, and in large 

 herds descend to the warmer prairies along the coast, they are tracked in the snow to their 

 lairs, and shot. Many frequent these j^rairies every winter, returning in early spring to the 

 mountains. In some places the Indians formerly surrounded the herds, and by gradually 

 narrowing their circle, succeeded in killing many. It is almost useless to hunt them in the 

 forest, where the dense underbrush gives them every advantage over their pursuer. 



An intelligent farmer, who formerly hunted elk in New York State, told me that he con- 

 sidered these a different animal, being much larger, and having larger and differently formed 

 horns. 



CERVUS COLUMBIANUS, Rich. 



Black-tailed Deer. 



Cerinis macrotis, var. columbianus, Richardson, F. B. Am. I, 1829, 255 ; pi. xx. 



Cervus columbianus, Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 659. 

 Sp. Ch. — About the size of C. virginianus, or less. Horns doubly dichotomous, the forks nearly equal. Ears more than 

 half the length of the tail. Gland of the hind leg about one-si.xth of the distance between the articuhiting surfaces of the 

 bone. Tail cylindrical, hairy and white beneath ; almost entirely black above. The under portion of the tip not black. 

 Winter coat with distinct yellowish chestnut annulation on a dark ground. Without white patch on the buttocks. There 

 is a distinct dusky horse-shoe mark on the forehead anterior to the eyes. 



I have only seen one species of deer in the Territory, and this only west of the Cascade 

 range. It is not abundant, except in a few places, the most remarkable of which is Whitby's 

 island, at the Straits of De Fuca, where extensive and luxuriant prairies support large numbers 

 of them, now, however, becoming scarce under the continual slaughter kept up at all seasons 

 by the settlers. 



While there, in March, 1855, I saw a great many frequently in open daylight, but more 

 commonly at dusk. The fact observed by Lewis and Clark, that when started they always go 

 away by a succession of jumps, with all four feet striking the ground at once, I have often 

 noticed, but have also seen them trot very leisurely away when they perceived the hunter at 

 some distance off. A mottled, and sometimes entirely white variety, is not uncommon on this 

 island and on the coast. I preserved a perfect specimen of this deer. 



Dimensions. — Nose to tip of tail, 5 feet 8 inches ; tail, 11 inches ; height at shoulder^ 

 3 feet. Male : Iris dark brown, horns budding. 



