516 
VIRGINIAN WHITE-TAILED DEER. 
Odocotleus americanus (Erxleben). 
Cervus dama americanus Erxl., Syst. Regn. Anim., I., 1777, p. 312. 
Odocoileus speleus Raf., Atlantic Journ., I., 1832, No. 3, p. 109. 
This is the common deer of the eastern United States, and was 
originally found almost everywhere from New York to Florida and 
west to the Missouri River. It is still found throughout this range 
wherever not exterminated, and in any of the wilder portions, if 
protected, soon becomes common. The first settlers found deer very 
abundant in this part of the country. As the wolves were killed 
or driven off, the deer became more plentiful, reaching their greatest 
abundance between 1845 and 1855. They were common in the parts 
of the county bordering the larger rivers till 1865, and it seems cer- 
tain that they still bred within the county limits several years after 
that date. One was seen near Homer as late as 1880. They are 
still seen occasionally in the southern part of the state near the 
Mississippi River. The hunters there believe that they cross the 
river from Missouri. I have no evidence that they still breed 
within this state. 
BISON; AMERICAN BUFFALO. 
Bison bison (Linneeus). 
Bos bison Linn., Syst. Nat., I., 1758, p. 72. 
The earliest explorers of Illinois all speak of the great herds of 
buffalo seen. It seems impossible to fix with any degree of accuracy 
the date of their disappearance from this locality, but it seems 
probable that it was before 1815. Certainly they were gone before 
the first settlers came. There were several deeply worn trails 
crossing the county in various directions, and these were used as 
roads by the early settlers. Mud-holes in which they had wallowed 
—called buffalo-wallows by the frontiersmen—were also common, 
and easily recognized till the land was cultivated. In Vermilion 
county—adyjoining Champaign county on the east—there was a 
salt-lick toward which several buffalo-trails converged. 
