272 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
the Mule Deer, according to my appreciation, though less so in the 
wild state than in semi-domestication. It has an awkward and 
shambling walk, and its trot is still less to be admired. Mbllie, 
an old doe, was fond of following me around the grounds when I 
was riding in a buggy, and when she had to trot to keep up, she 
presented so ludicrous an object as to be quite laughable. I 
never saw her or any other adult of the species in my grounds at 
full speed, but I have seen the wild deer in the mountains when 
fleeing from danger. Then it is that the gait exactly resembles 
that of the musk deer (Moschus moschiferus, Linn.), of the Him- 
alayas. It is not a leap but a bound, all the feet leaving and 
striking the ground at the same time. ‘These bounds display 
wonderful elasticity for a time, but after a while they seem to 
become fatiguing, and the stride becomes less, and the speed 
slackens. It is evident that this motion is less adapted to a long 
and rapid flight than the long, leaping gait of the Virginia deer. 
The fawns, when started from their concealment in my grounds, 
would spring up with a high bound, alighting on all the feet at 
once, and bound away with astonishing swiftness in the same way 
as the adults. The walk, the gallop, the trot, and the bound, as 
above described, are the only paces I have observed practiced by 
the Mule Deer. The three first are always performed in a lazy, 
leisurely way, and the last is resorted to only in alarm and ex- 
citement. 
The same description may be given to the gait of the Colum- 
bia Black-tailed Deer, except that the walk may be a little 
slower and more deliberate, and the trot is less awkward and less 
frequently practiced. Notwithstanding this apparent want of 
elasticity in the motions of these two species as compared with 
the Virginia deer, they are much more inclined to leap fences. 
Mollie would leap a fence four feet high into a yard, the gate of 
which was open, as soon as go six feet further to pass through 
the gate, and Albert, the Black-tailed buck, would climb up four 
feet upon the hay which had been left against the fence, eight 
feet high, and jump into the road, appearing as indifferent to the 
drop of eight feet upon the frozen ground, as if it were but two 
feet. Their strong bony legs seem to stand them well in hand 
on such occasions, I have seen the Black-tailed buck at full 
speed. When I was quietly standing near the edge of the bluff in 
the North Park, he came rushing up the steep hill at a fearful 
rate, and was about to pass me when I spoke to him. He at 
once stopped his tremendous bounds, and walked up to me, not 
