PRONGHORN OF THE PLAINS 179 
The silvery, melodious peal of the yellow- 
breasted meadow lark rang out all over the wide 
wild .prairie. Prairie dogs scampered, barked, 
and played; butterflies circled and floated above 
the scattered and stunted sage; thousands of 
small birds were busy with nest and song, and 
countless ragged spaces of brilliant wild flowers 
illuminated the grass-green surface to every 
horizon. 
The antelope is known as the pronghorn, be- 
cause of a single small prong on each horn. 
This prong is more like a guard and serves as 
a hilt. In fighting an antelope often catches its 
opponent’s thrust on this prong. The horn 
commonly is less than ten inches long. Many 
females do not have horns, and rarely are these 
fully developed on any female. 
Deer and elk have deciduous horns—that 
is, horns that are shed annually. Goat and 
bighorn never shed their horns. But each year 
antelope sheds the outer part—the point and 
sheath—of the horn, retaining the stubs or 
stumps which grow new horns. 
The antelope has a number of marked charac- 
teristics and some of these are unique. It is 
without dew claws; the hair is hollow and filled 
with pitch; teeth are of peculiar pattern; it 
eats mostly bitter or pungent food; has large, 
long-range eyes of almost telescopic power; 
