THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
Vor. x.— APRIL, 1876. — No. $. 
THE AMERICAN ANTELOPE, OR PRONG BUCK. 
BY HON. J. D. CATON. 
p is not possible to give more than a synopsis of the natural 
history of the American antelope in the space which may be 
properly allowed in this journal. It was first made known to the 
scientific world through Lewis and Clark, who found it in 1804 
on the Upper Missouri, and who at times made it an important 
object of the chase.. On their return they brought with them a 
specimen, which was placed in Peale’s Museum, at Philadelphia, 
and first described by Mr. Ord, and named Antelope Americana. 
Three years later, in Journal de Physique, he gave it a generic 
distinction under the name of Antilocapra Americana. 
This animal is not a native of the Old World, and is confined 
toa very limited portion of the New; that is to say, the western 
Part of the continent, mostly’ within the temperate zone; and 
“ince, a8 we shall hereafter seg, it avoids forests and high mount- 
ans, it may not be looked for in many portions of this region. 
It was never found east of the Mississippi River, nor did it even 
reach the Missouri River except on its upper part, where it crossed 
that river in the more arid regions. 
The habits of our antelope explain why it is so confined in its 
range. Its aliment is strictly herbaceous. It not only rejects 
arboreous food, but it has such an aversion to forests that it 
rarely enters them voluntarily, refusing to be driven into them 
at the greatest peril. True, it will eross thin skirts of timber in 
Passing from one prairie to another, and the old bucks at certain 
Seasons, when they seem inclined to avoid the society of their 
kind, have been known to seclude themselves in the open, park- 
: like glades of some districts. 
a on are exceptionally gregarious in their habits, although 
'mmense bands of thousands in which they formerly assem- 
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Copyright, A. S. PACKARD, JR. 1876. 
