THE MULE DEER. 
BY W. J. HAYS. 
Tur Mule Deer* (Plate 3) was first mentioned by Lewis 
and Clark in the report of their journey up the Missouri 
River. They gave it the name of Mule Deer on account of 
the length of its ears; the length of the ear, however, varies 
with individuals. I have one head which I procured on the 
Upper Missouri, the ears*of which measure nine inches from 
the head, and one from the Platte with ears only seven inches 
in length; these measurements are from adult males. The 
description of Mr. Say gives ten inches. Mr. Say first de- 
scribed it and gave it the name of Cervus macrotis. 
This deer is much coarser and less graceful than the Cer- 
vus Virginianus; its limbs are thicker and longer, although 
it does not vary much in weight from the largest of the com- 
mon deer found in the Adirondack Mountains. 
The color in summer is a dull grayish brown, and in win- 
ter a silvery gray on the body, a line of black on the back 
and on the breast between the fore legs; the legs are a bright 
brownish yellow, the upper part of the inside white. The 
forehead is covered with dark brown hair extending down to 
a line a little below the eyes. The upper lip and chin are 
white; there is a band of dark brown running into black, 
extending from the nostril to the edge of the upper lip. The 
black band is not so well defined on the lower jaw as in the 
common deer. The inside of the thighs up to the tail is 
white; there is also a slight indication of white under the 
neck. The belly is a yellowish brown, almost as bright as 


EURE or Mule Deer, Lowlé and Clark. Cervus asirites, Wat 
PR United Hd ges I p. 245. Cerf Mullet, Desmarest, Mammalogie, p. 43. Jump- 
ing Deer, Umfreville, ea in Bay, p.104. Great-eared Deer, Griffith's atl King- 
dom, vol. IV, p. 133. Tego macrotis Say, Long’s Ex., vol. I, p.254. Cervus macrotis, 
lan’s Fauna, p Cervus macrotus Sabine, Frankiln’s Johs. p. ot 607. Certus 
macrotis, imagate Natural History, vol Iv, p. 133. Cervus macrotis Peale, Philadel- 
phia Advocate of Science, August, 1834. 
. (180). 

TSSEMETEMT 
Sum Ea 


