1876.] A New Californian Deer. 465 
Before my arrival at Santa Barbara the fame of Mr. Frost, the 
leading merchant of the place, as a deer-hunter, had reached _ 
me, and soon after my arrival I made his acquaintance and in- 
quired concerning the deer of the vicinity. He showed me many 
interesting specimens of antlers, a few dried skins, and a last 
year’s fawn in domestication, but unfortunately the tail of the 
latter had been bitten off by a mule. 
I sawiat once that we had something I had never met before 
or seen described. I expressed a strong desire for an opportu- 
nity to study it further, when Mr. Frost invited me to join him in 
an excursion to the mountains to procure a specimen, which of 
course I gladly accepted. At six o'clock on Tuesday morning, 
the 21st of March, he drove up to my hotel, accompanied by Mr. 
Miller, another merchant of Santa Barbara, no less fond of the 
chase, the wagon stored with every convenience for camp life. 
We followed up the coast forty miles to Gaviota, where we 
crossed the Coast Range through the Gaviota Pass, the summit 
of which I found to be one thousand and fifty feet above the 
sea, and made camp in a secluded valley, among abrupt hills 
varying in height from one hundred to four hundred feet. Some 
of these were covered with wild oats to their very summits, 
while others were clothed with open, park-like live-oaks, or dense 
chaparral. The afternoon was spent in making camp, observing 
the character of the country, and listening to the love notes of 
the great flocks of quail (Lophortyx Californicus), whose breed- 
ing season was about to commence. 
Next morning by daylight coffee was drank, and the hunters 
Were off to the hills. As the excursion was strictly for scientific 
Purposes, it was understood that only bucks were to be shot at. 
By noon three specimens were brought into camp, which were 
all I desired, and afforded me every opportunity for a critical 
study, 
I found them to be a very pronounced variety of Cervus ma- 
crotis. Of the species there could be no mistake. There was 
R large ear, the very large metatarsal gland, more than four 
times as large as on the black-tailed deer (Cervus Columbianus), 
and.more than ten times as large as on the common deer ( Cervus 
Virginianus), but above all the under side of the tail was naked to 
ut the same extent as on the tail of the horse. Now this is a 
Peculiarity not found on any other of the American deer, and I do 
not know that it is observed on any foreign species ; and as it is 
48 constant on this deer as on the horse, it becomes an impor- 
VoL. x. — No. 8. 
