Tbe Caribou 261 



ment as, in a stately trot, with head and tail 

 uplifted, the clicking hoofs, like castanets, beating 

 time to the swift action of the limbs, the proud 

 deer passes rapidly from view over the yielding 

 moss of the treacherous swamp. The Woodland 

 caribou is a shy, suspicious animal in those locali- 

 ties where he has had the opportunity of making 

 the acquaintance of his great enemy, man, and 

 when frightened and fully satisfied that danger 

 is near, he will never cease travelling until he 

 has placed a great distance between himself and 

 the cause of his fears. Restless in the extreme, 

 they are ever roving the forest, and travel many 

 miles every day and night. 



In order to consider the habits of the caribou, 

 it will be necessary to divide them into their two 

 classes, the Woodland and the Barren-Ground, 

 and take each separately. While numerous spe- 

 cies and races have been made of these, by those 

 who believe that the infinite variations of nature 

 must be followed by an infinity of names, yet for 

 the purpose of recounting the caribou's mode of 

 life all these deer, irrespective of their habitat, are 

 practically one species, for their ways differ only in 

 degree. The Woodland, which we will first con- 

 sider, as their name implies, are mainly dwellers 

 of forest lands, and are usually found in the 

 swamps, where the trees are few, though their 

 margins are bordered by the dense woods. In 



