240 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



the Virginia deer. In color, I cannot perceive any appreciable 

 difference between my live specimens and those obtained at Vic- 

 toria and Portland. 



The white between the hams, under the tail of this deer, is 

 wider than the tail itself, so that when looking at the deer from 

 behind, it is seen about one inch broad on each side of the tail 

 for its whole length. 



The tail of the Virginia Deer exceeds in length that of any 

 other of our deer. It varies very much on different adult indi- 

 viduals, on some being not more than eleven or twelve inches long, 

 while on others it is found to be sixteen or even eighteen inches 

 in length. In shape it is flattened, being the broadest a little 

 posterior to its base ; thence it contracts in width gradually and 

 quite regularly to a point at the end, giving it a lanceolate form, 

 as shown in the illustration. 



On the under side and on the edges it is always white, but 

 on top it is very variant in color. I have some specimens in my 

 grounds which are jet black for the lower half, growing lighter 

 towards the anterior or upper part by the interspersion of gray 

 hairs with the black, which become more abundant anteriorly. 

 These very black specimens are quite rai-e, but a majority have 

 more or less black towards the extremities. Very many, how- 

 ever, have no black upon them, but are of a tawny gray on top. 

 Scarcely any two are exactly of the same shade of color, some 

 being of an exceedingly light gray on top, and between these and 

 the black every intermediate shade is to be found. 



The blackest specimens are met with east of the Mississippi 

 River, In the Rocky Mountains and west of them, the lightest 

 colored specimens are met with, and I have never met with one 

 there with any black upon it. Hence in that region they are 

 called the White-tailed Deer. In the northwest they have been 

 called the Long-tailed Deer, not, I imagine, because the tails 

 there are longer than on the same species east, but because they 

 have longer tails than any other deer in that region. 



When viewed posteriorly, the white of tlie edges shows dis- 

 tinctly as a border to the colored portion on top. And when the 

 tail is elevated and the hairs radiate in excitement, nothing but 

 the white is seen, except from an anterior view. The natural 

 position of the tail is depressed or vertical. When the animal is 

 excited, as by seeing a dog, for instance, the tail is elevated to a 

 horizontal position, and the hairs become radiate, while the ani- 



