152 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



seen them are mistaken. I do not know that any man has ever 

 seen the spots on the adult Virginia deer except in my parks, cer- 

 tainly I never heard of them having been seen elsewhere. The 

 affirmative testimony of one reliable observer who has seen them 

 may be held as conclusive that they do sometimes occur, while the 

 observations of many who have examined for them without success 

 may equally convince us that in a majority of cases they cannot 

 be detected. I presume that comparatively but few specimens 

 have been examined on this point, and the casual observer, not 

 looking for spots at all, would be very likely to overlook them 

 when not very distinct. Again they may be evanescent, and 

 observable but for a few days and so more likely to escape detec- 

 tion on those found in the woods, and we have no account of any 

 having been born in domestication in this countrj^, and Dr. Gil- 

 pin informs us that it is very difficult to raise them when taken 

 young, by hand or even on the cow. 



Of the ground color of the young Moose Dr. Gilpin says, " I 

 have seen the young calves in June, when they could not have 

 been ten days old ; they Avere a lovely fawn color." For myself 

 I have only examined mounted specimens, which were of a redder 

 shade than here described, approaching nearer to a light bay. 

 But the doctor's observations of a living specimen are far the most 

 reliable. This is a point on which the observations of hunters 

 would be the least reliable, for they rarely meet with the young 

 fawns, and when thej' do, even if they think to notice the color 

 they rarely note it down at the time, and without this mere mem- 

 ory is of little worth. Only those who are in the habit of mak- 

 ing notes of their observations at the time can appreciate their 

 value. The very act of making the notes, systematizes and sharp- 

 ens the observations and leads one to see many things which 

 would otherwise have been overlooked. And he who, some time 

 after, writes on a subject from memoiy, and then refers to his 

 notes to verify his work, will be astonished at the number of er- 

 rors he has to correct. 



The ground color of the young Caribou I have had some diffi- 

 culty in ascertaining satisfactorily. If it is given by any author 

 I have overlooked it. That they are at least frequently orna- 

 mented with white spots is well established. The illustration of 

 the young Caribou is from a drawing by Dr. Gilpin, which he 

 kindly prepared for me, taken from life. This shows a line of 

 seven spots along the flank and should be conclusive, but I may 

 add the testimony of Captain Hardy (" Forest Life in Acadie," 



