100 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



tremely shaggy. This individual was, according to Mr. 

 Skudder, exactly similar to the specimen shot on Long 

 Island, and might, therefore, be considered the Canadian 

 variety ; and the drawing compared with the stuffed speci- 

 men in Paris, if he be not the identical animal, closely 

 resembles it. 



The horns of this species acquire a surprising develop- 

 ment, expanding with such rapidity that at one period their 

 growth exceeds an inch and a half per day. The Long 

 Island specimen of six antlers each, measured above three 

 feet in length, and the burr and beam were exceedingly 

 large, but in some individuals they are asserted to exceed 

 six feet*. One specimen, of which we have a drawing, 

 shews them nearly five feet long. The base and tertian or 

 brow and royal antlers are invariably the longest in both 

 the varieties ; these seem to be instruments of use, for with 

 them, when a small dead pine or a bar of a split fence six- 

 teen or eighteen feet long lies in their way, they will lift and 

 toss it clear over their backs. 



In England, where they have propagated, it appears that 

 some care is required for their preservation, since to an 

 alleged neglect of this kind is ascribed the loss of no less 

 than twelve head of the herd belonging to the king. In 

 Canada they feed on some buds of coniferous trees and 

 grass, and in summer on aquatic plants, which they seek 

 under water, while sheltering themselves in that element from 

 the bites of flies. It was in the act of feeding in this manner 

 that we had a view of the Canadian Stag. We were in a 

 canoe ascending the Chaudiere at a point where the river 

 bends suddenly on opening into a small lake. A hunter 

 among us made a warning sign for silence, and pointed 

 a-head, but nothing appeared on the surface of the water ; 

 the bateau men, however, understood the sign, and grasped 



* Cuv. Oss. Fossiles, vol. iv. p. 28. 



