260 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
DESCRIPTION 
Of a female specimen, killed February, 1827, and presented by the Hudson's Bay Company to the Zoological 
Museum.—Noted as full-grown, 
Form, elegant ; limbs, very slender. Lachrymal opening apparently only a small fold 
in the skin close to the eye. Head and back fawn-colour, mixed with black; sides 
and cheeks paler; ears edged with dusky-brown; chin and throat white; the tail is 
fawn-coloured, inclining to rusty above, and pure white underneath and at the tip; hoofs, 
small and neat. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Feet, Inches. Feet. Inches, 
Length of back 3 0 | Length of tail : ° . - 0 9 
55 neck - . < 1 1 “0 55 With fur A 1 J 
a5 head . . ° . 0 ll Height of the ears. . . - 0 5 
sy 5, and body 5 0 
This is the smallest deer known in the fur countries, its weight falling short of 
that of the Barren-ground caribou. 
Mr. Douglas brought home the horns of a full grown male. They have a close 
resemblance in form to the horns of the Cervus virgimanus. The main stem 
rises at right angles to the facial line, and gives out near its base an erect, thick, 
conical snag; above this the horn makes a regular curve, nearly in a horizontal 
direction forwards, outwards, and at the extreme tip, a little inwards towards its 
fellow; two tapering erect antlers spring at right angles from the horizontal part 
of the main stem, The distance from the base of the horn to the tip of the snag 
or first antler is four inches ; from the same place to the tip of the second antler, 
which springs from where the horn takes a horizontal direction, is ten inches, 
being the whole height of the horns; from the base to the tip of the third antler 
is also ten inches; and from the same place to the extreme tip of the horn, the 
distance, owing to the curvature of the main beam, is only eight inches. The 
lengths of the second and third antlers are respectively four and three inches. 
The distance from the tip of the first antler to that of its fellow on the other horn, 
is five inches ; between the tips of the second antlers, thirteen inches ; between 
the tips of the third antlers, sixteen inches; and between the extreme tips of each 
horn, twelve inches. Mr. Douglas describes the colour of the upper parts of the 
animal in summer as reddish-brown, which changes to a light gray in winter, 
I received from Penetanguishene, on Lake Huron, the skin of a very young 
deer, which is of a dark yellowish-brown colour on the upper parts, interspersed 
with white round spots from the size of a pea to that of a small marble. On each 
side of the spine the spots are arranged in a pretty close even row, and on the 
