286 



ZOOLOGY. 



twigs of trees and shrubs, and it is the only one of the 

 family which will browse on coniferous trees. 



The prong-horn antelope {Antilocapra Americana, Pig. 

 316; see also Frontispiece) so characteristic of the western 

 plains, like the true deer, drops its horns in the autumn, 



Fig. 816.— Prong-horn Antelope, yoxing. 



though they are hollow when shed, and with a persistent 

 coi-e, as in the ox and goat. The antelope crops grass, 

 not, like the deer, eating leaves of trees and shrubs. It is 

 the fleetest animal on the plains, though short-winded and 

 not capable of running a great distance. 



In its horns, hollow when cast off, and in the presence 

 of a gall-bladder, which is absent in the deer family, the 

 prong-horn antelope connects the deer family with the 

 BovidcB, which are represented by the sheep, goat, antelope, 

 gazelle, and ox. 



