ee 
1876.] The American Antelope, or Prong Buck. 195 
bled are now broken up by the advancement of civilization, 
which has absolutely expelled them from those regions where 
they were met with in great numbers a quarter of a century 
since. Then they were most abundant in California, where they 
sometimes almost literally covered the’ plains and the foot-hills 
west of the Sierras, and where now a solitary wanderer is rarely 
heard of. The parks and plains in the mountains and east of 
them, and the great table-lands separating the distant ranges, 
are now most affected by our antelope, for there it finds that dry, 
gravelly soil, covered by a scanty but nutritious vegetation, which 
its tastes seem to crave and its nature seems to require; there 
too, only the shepherd and the herder are induced to intrude upon 
its seclusion and disturb its quiet. 
Although Richardson objects to the appellation Americana, 
because there may be two species of the genus, it is now settled 
beyond dispute that this animal stands alone, a solitary species 
of a distinct genus among ruminants, ds we shall presently see, 
differing so widely in many important particulars that zodlog- 
ical laws which have hitherto been considered well settled have 
to be abandoned and new ones recognized. Capra Americana, 
which was once supposed by some to be a species of the same 
genus, is now well established to be a true goat, and no more 
related to the animal under consideration than is Ovis montana, 
our Rocky Mountain sheep, and in coat and coloring the latter 
Sa much stronger resemblance to our animal than the for- 
mer, } 
In size, the prong buck (Bartlett) is considerably smaller 
than the ordinary Virginia deer, and less variation among indi- 
viduals is observed than occurs in any of the deer family. A 
fully adult male rarely exceeds four feet in length from tip to 
tip, and three feet in height to the top of the shoulder, while the 
adult female is considerably smaller. The hunter never has 
difficulty in throwing the largest upon his horse or upon his 
shoulder, and walking to camp with him, though if the distance 
be great he gets heavy, no doubt. 
the form is best understood by reference to the illustration, 
Which is taken from life, of a fully adult male standing at perfect 
AN. The body is short and round, the tail is very short, the 
neck is rather short, and is carried very erect. The head is 
rather broad and short, and carried well up. The ears are small 
erect, 
The hairs of this animal differ from those found on most of 
