140 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
lines of black and tan.” Although our author was not aware 
that he was describing the same winter coat at two different 
periods of its growth, he has done so with marked clearness, and 
he would have appreciated this, if he had watched many individ- 
uals of most of the species day by day from the first appearance 
of the new winter coat, under the disappearing summer coat, 
through all the changes to the faded and worn out appearance 
of spring, and till it is finally cast off in its turn, — he would 
have appreciated that, like the garment of a man, it is most 
beautiful when it is first put on, and the longer it is worn the 
more faded and shabby it becomes. 
Hardy says, the Moose sheds his winter coat about the middle 
of April. In September we find him with a fine, short, soft, glossy 
coat, as black as night. Can any rational man suppose that that 
is the same coat which he took on in the previous April, and 
which he had worn the whole summer? Has it been growing 
finer, shorter, softer, and acquiring a finer lustre all the summer ? 
On all the others the suinmer coat continues to increase in length, 
and to lose its freshness during the summer, until, when it is 
thrown away, it has a dirty and ragged appearance, and all at 
once, in September, we find it changed to a rich and beautiful 
nuptial dress, the admiration of all who see him. No one ever 
mentions him in this dress in the summer time, and I imagine no 
one of sense will suppose he ever wears such a dress at that time, 
and to suppose that the same hairs which had been long and 
harsh, and dull of color, all at once become short, and soft, and 
brilliant, seems to me to bespeak an ignorance of the growth of 
the coats of quadrupeds. It seems to me impossible to account 
for this ornamental coat in the early fall, except on the conclu- 
sion that it is composed of new hairs, which have lately taken 
the place of others of a different color and quality just cast off. 
Audubon and Bachman say: ‘“ But there is always a striking 
difference between the summer and winter colors, the hairs in 
winter becoming darker.” Now this must be a recognition of the 
two distinct coats of summer and winter; the former of which is 
certainly lighter than the latter, even after it has faded from its 
first brilliant hues. It would be an anomaly, indeed, for a sickly, 
pale coat to change to a brilliant black. 
Both from analogy and attested facts, when their true import 
is properly considered, I think we are warranted in the conclu- 
sion that the Moose, with the others, has its two distinct pelages 
each year. 
