PREFACE. 



The natural liistoi'y of those animals, the pursuit of which 

 has always been with me a favorite recreation, has occupied my 

 leisure for many years. He who would enjoy the full measure of 

 field sports must have a good knowledge of the natural history of 

 the objects of his pursuit, and the more complete that knowledge 

 the more complete will be his enjoyment. 



For many years I have kept in domestication the American 

 Antelope and all of the American deer of which I treat, except 

 the Moose and the two species of Caribou or American Reindeer. 

 This has given me opportunities for making observations of 

 them, which I could not make in their wild state, and a habit of 

 noting my observations has accumulated a vast amount of facts 

 which those quite competent to judge deemed of scientific value, 

 and so was I induced to attempt to put them in a form which 

 would make them available to others. This I undertook some 

 years since, but soon discovered that I should never complete the 

 work to my own satisfaction, for new observations constantly de- 

 manded additions or changes in what I had thought finished, 

 and so might I continue for years to come. I have, how- 

 ever, taken the advice of a scientific friend to no longer delay 

 in the vain hope of attaining completeness, conscious that 

 much remains to be discovered relating to the objects of my 

 study, and that many of my conclusions may require modifica- 

 tions. 



I make no attempt to exhaust the natural history of even the 

 few animals of which I treat, but content myself with a mere 

 monograph of them, leaving their . osteology and anatomy almost 



