UNGULATA. 



59 



hills covered with cedar and pine trees. By the flattened and concave 

 formation of its hoofs, it is enabled to climb the rocky steeps with 

 much greater facility than other species of deer, and for the same 

 reason we infer that it is more at ease in the snowy regions of the 

 mountains." 



3. Cervus Lewisii, Peale. — The Black-tailed Deer. 



Cervus Lexcisii, Peale, Zool. Exp. Exp. Mamm. p. 39 (1st ed. 1848). 



Cervus macrotis, var. columhiana, RiCHARDSON, Faun. Bor. Am. I, p. 257 (1829). 



Cervus macrouras, Ham. SiMIlH, Griff. Cuv. V, p. 316 (1827) ? 



Atlas, Mammalogy, Plate XI, Adult. 



Though known since the time of Lewis and Clarke, this species was 

 first accurately described by Mr. Peale. Usually confounded by 

 naturalists with the preceding and other species, it is clearly and 

 evidently distinct, and apparently peculiar to the countries of North 

 America west of the Rocky Mountains. 



Mr. Peale's description and observations are as follows : 



" Horns shaped like those of Gerous virginianus, but more slender, 

 and commonly without the basal antler. General form rounded and 

 compact; color of the hair (in October), yellowish-brown, lighter 

 beneath, not flattened, but slightly undulating, a black or dark-brown 

 band encircling the nose and under jaw ; chin, belly, and inside of the 

 legs yellowish-white ; a dark line along the middle of the breast ; tail 

 carved, covered with hair at all seasons, tufted towards the extremity, 

 black above, and yellowish-white beneath. Feet pale, raw, sienna- 

 colored ; hoofs bluish horn-color, narrow and small. 



" Dental formula : incisors, § ; canines, § ^ ; molars, % I = 32. 



" Specimen killed on Feather River, Upper California : total length, 

 including the tail, six feet one and a half inches; tail, ten inches; 

 height at the shoulder, three feet two inches ; at the rump, three 

 feet three inches; from the shoulder to the tail, three feet six inches; 

 from the lower jaw to the shoulder, one foot one inch ; ear, length, 

 ten inches; width, three and three-quarter inches; circumference of 

 the neck, one foot ; of the chest, three feet eight inches ; nose to the 

 occiput, twelve and three-quarter inches; nose to the horns, nine 



