MAMMALIA 



339 



bitter from the wormwood pasturage, is the staple diet of thousands in 

 Africa."' 



The genus Llama ini'ludt's the llama, alpai'a, huanaco, and vicunia. 

 They differ from the camel in their smaller size and the absence of the hump. 



The llama was used in Peru as a beast of burden for centuries before the 

 Spanish Conquest, and is still the only trustworthy carrier in the higher 

 Andes. Its flesh is coarse and unpalatable, and its hair is coarser and in- 

 ferior to that of the alpaca. It defends itself by "spitting," that is, forcibly 

 ejecting not only the saliva, but the contents of the stomach at any offender. 

 The discharge is injurious to man's eyes. The llama can also kick and 

 bite. The alpaca is a smaller variety, bred in Peru and Chile for its thick 

 growth of black to gray or yellowish woolly hair. 



Fig. 275. — One-humped camel (Came'lus dromeda'rius). (Linnaeus.) 



The deer family (Cer'vidm) is distinguished from all other ruminants by the 

 presence of true bony antlers in the male; the European reindeer and the 

 American caribou have antlers in both sexes. These antlers may be little 

 or much branched. They are never fused with the skull and are usually 

 shed annually. Each year the new ones are larger and provided with one 

 more tine. It takes the antlers from ten to sixteen weeks to grow to matur- 

 ity. During the greater portion of this time the males are weak and inof- 

 fensive. At this time the does are rearing the young (fawns). When the 

 new antlers are fully developed (about October) (Fig. 276) the males are 

 as savage as tigers. 



The white-tailed Virginia deer {Odocoi'leus virginia'nus) is our most 

 widely distributed deer. It weighs about 2.50 pounds, is light brown in 

 summer and reddish brown in winter, with the under parts of throat and tail 

 pure white. It crouches and carries its head low, and saves itself by clinging 



' Zwemer. 



