182 BULLETIN 56, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



most northern point at which I found Odocoileus couesi. Its range 

 is mainly south of the Gila, where it is still abundant though its 

 numbers are decreasing. On the lower Gila it was said to abound 

 in the mountains north of Gila City. We were also told that it 

 occurs sparingly all the way to the mouth of the Colorado Eiver, 

 along which it is restricted to the Avooded river bottom, but we did 

 not meet with it there. No deer were killed by my party in crossing 

 the Colorado Desert. Tracks were numerous along the Salton and 

 New rivers ; some of those along the Salton, at least, may have been 

 those of this species ; but we obtained no proof of its existence beyond 

 the Colorado River. 



A belief is prevalent among the settlers of Arizona that a " dwarf 

 deer," much smaller than the Sonoran white-tail, inhabits southern 

 Arizona and northern Sonora, in proof of which I have been shown 

 small, scraggy horns, at Safford, Tombstone, and Nogales which were 

 said to be those of this " dwarf deer " or (sometimes) " fan-tail." I 

 also found similar shed horns, but saw no white-tailed deer that were 

 different from the present species. A similar view is held respecting 

 the female or young bighorn, which is locally called the " ibex " in 

 central Arizona. 



On the Mexican Boundary we did not meet with this deer until in 

 going west we had passed Monument No. 63. From the east base 

 of the San Luis Mountains to the Santa Rosa range on Sonoyta 

 River the species was found in all suitable localities. None were 

 actually seen beyond the Santa Rosa range. I saw it on the Bavispe 

 River, Sonora, and on the highest peaks of the San Luis, Guadalupe, 

 Niggerhead, San Jose, Huachuca, Pajarito, Poso Verde, and Cobota 

 mountains. Although it delights in the shaded thickets bordering 

 streams at all levels, it seems, especially during the breeding season, 

 to have a predilection for mountain summits. Mr. Hall, whom we 

 found domiciled in a cabin in' Guadalupe Canyon, in 1892, had spent 

 several years in that wild region endeavoring to establish a cattle 

 ranch; but Indians had killed his cattle and his vaqueros, and he 

 himself was killed by Mexicans the following year. From this 

 plucky settler I learned much that was of interest about the animals 

 of the region. Mr. Plall said that the Sonoran deer sometimes con- 

 gregate in herds during winter, when they descend from the moun- 

 tains. He had seen hundreds of bucks assembled — a forest of horns: 

 We saw ho herds, but small groups were very numerous in some 

 localities. In 1893, a hunting-party from Fort Huachuca reported 

 killing 36 deer on a trip of a few days to Cajon Bonito Creek.- 

 Sonora. We found this species abundant on both sides of the San 

 Luis Mountains, where many were killed to furnish food for our 



