THE TAIL. 235 



them never so much, still the tail remains quiet, while they 

 may be stamping with their feet or thrashing about the head in 

 a frantic way. 



On both these animals the tails are round ; on the Moose they 

 are somewhat tapering, while on the Elk the tail is of a uniform 

 diameter, with an abrupt termination. 



The tail of the Caribou is something longer than that of the 

 Elk. It is somewhat flattened, very broad at the base, tapering 

 all the way to the end. It is very short for so large an animal, 

 but is more active than on the Elk. 



On the Moose the color of the tail vai'ies from very light to 

 dark brown. 



The tail of the Caribou is of a dark shade on top, approaching 

 a brown, and on some specimens it is decidedly so. 



On all the smaller species the tail is found to be a pi-ominent, 

 and to some extent, a useful member. Each has a tail con- 

 structed on a plan peculiarly its own, by which it may be read- 

 ily distinguished, and by this mark alone may the species be 

 identified. While each may vary from the others in length, all 

 are of sufficient size to harmonize with the general structure of 

 the animal. 



The largest of this group, and the one which we shall first con- 

 sider, is the Mule Deer. In many respects this tail differs from 

 all the others of the species, and its individualities are such as to 

 identif}^ it at once and everywhere. 



In mv earlier studies I was led into some erroneous conclu- 

 sions as to the tail of this deer, which I have been able to cor- 

 rect by subsequent observations. 



The most striking peculiarities and which first strike the ob- 

 server, are that it is of a yellowish white color except a tuft at 

 the lower end which is black, and for most of the way it is naked 

 on the under side ; the color of this tail is a shade the lightest 

 on the under side bordering the naked part. 



There are two varieties of the Mule Deer. The eastern or 

 Rocky Mountain variety I shall first consider. While in color 

 the tails of different specimens are quite alike, in form they are 

 quite variant. Most are large at the base, tapering to small 

 dimensions to the limit of the white hair, and then terminating 

 with a large black tuft. 



This form is most observable on the aged animals. In other 

 specimens the white hairs are nearer of a uniform length, so that 

 very little taper is observed. In these specimens the white hairs 



