AMERICAN WOODLAND REINDEER. 13? 



obtain a" shot at it, although it was never able to con- 

 ceal itself from our search for more than a minute or 

 two at a time." 



The fur in winter is of a snow-white colour, and 

 bears a strong resemblance to swansdown : it is in prime 

 order (in latitude 65°) about the end of October ; and 

 begins to be replaced in the following April by the 

 summer coat, which is more or less coloured. In 

 higher latitudes, however, this change does not take 

 place, since Otho Fabricius informs us that in Green- 

 land its colour is at all times white. 



The American Woodland Reindeer. 



Cervus(Tarandus) sylvestris, Richardson. Caribou, American 

 Voyagers. Attehk, Cree Indians. Tantseeah, Copper Indians. 



It has been customary, not only with compilers of 

 Natural Histories, but even with professed zoologists, 

 who should know better, to mix together all the inform- 

 ation they can find, narrated by travellers, regarding 

 the reindeer of the two continents, and to blend the 

 whole in one narrative, taking for granted the accuracy 

 of a point, which has never been proved, or even pro- 

 perly investigated, that the reindeer of America and 

 of Europe are of the same species. This plan we shall 

 not adopt. It has been well observed by Dr. Rich- 

 ardson *, that neither of the two " permanent va- 

 rieties " of the American reindeer have as yet been 

 properly compared with the European or Asiatic races ; 

 and the distinguishing characters, if any exist, are 

 still unknown. With the remarkable fact before us, 

 that it is only within the last six years (1830) the elk of 

 Sweden has been discovered to be distinct from the elk 

 of America, we may reasonably doubt if similar differ- 

 ences do not exist in other species of animals, hithert© 

 supposed to inhabit both continents in common. The 

 history of the European reindeer has been frequently 

 given, and is to be found in the narratives of so many 

 travellers, that we shall not here repeat what is so gene- 



* North. Zool. i. 238. 



