166 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
first to one side and then to the other, to watch the progress of 
the pursuit, the danger of which was becoming more and more 
imminent every moment, as the leading doe was already close 
upon him, and had commenced making desperate passes with her 
fore feet, any one of which, had it hit him, would have ended a 
worthless career. But this was in fact his salvation, since by 
striking too soon the elk lost ground, and just as he was about to 
receive the fatal blow, he gained the cover and shot into the 
thicket, where the advantage was all on his side, and thus 
he escaped; but I never heard of that dog having been seen in 
those grounds again. When the does returned, their ears were 
all thrown back in a threatening way, as if to challenge any other 
dog to invade their grounds. All this time, the bucks took no 
part in the affray, and manifested little interest in the result. 
They walked down the lawn, elevated their heads and looked 
earnestly if not wisely, — that was all. The chase began scarcely 
a hundred yards from where we sat, or rather stood, for in an 
instant all ran to the window to see the exciting sport, and so we 
had the best possible opportunity to observe the habits of the 
animal under such circumstances. 
On another occasion, as I was studying the herd in the east 
park, a large pointer dog found a passage under the fenee, and 
went ranging through the grounds in a characteristic way, when 
he espied some of the buck elks, which had strayed a little to 
one side, and started for them with great fierceness. Although 
their antlers were then hard, the suddenness of the onset fright- 
ened them at first, and they trotted in towards the herd, laying 
their ears back. The moment the does saw the dog they charged 
upon him with impetuosity, upon which that dog admitted that 
he had no further business in the park, and, aided by the shrub- 
bery, he succeeded in effecting a safe retreat, which I did’ not 
regret. The whole herd of forty or fifty joined in the hunt, the 
bucks in the rear, but all with their ears forward, as if their only 
purpose was speed, without a hostile thought ; but the noise they 
made as they crashed through the brushwood was like the rush- 
ing of many waters. As is always the case, on such occasions, 
the hair of the white patches on the rump became elevated like 
the bristles on the back of a boar at bay. 
The Mule Deer (Cervus macrotis), has the largest ear of any 
of the species on either continent, in proportion to its size; hence 
its name. 
The ear of the adult Mule Deer is eight inches in length, 
