88 
U. S. p. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS — 47TH PARALLEL. 
Length, 13 to 15 inches. Ear, 3 inches. Heel, 3 inches. Fore leg, below elbow joint, 3^. 
Head, 3 inches. 
I was told of another kind of small rabbit of a bluish tint, shorter ears, and which burrowed 
in the ground, but I could not get any. The accounts of it were also conflicting. 
CERVUS CANADENSIS, Erxl. 
Elk. 
Baird, Gen Rep. Mammals, 1857, 537. 
The elk is abundant in the dense forests of the Coast Range, and found in less numbers in 
the other wooded portions of the Territory. It is very wary, and difficult to kill at most times, 
but is often shot on the small prairies, near the heads of rivers, where it feeds in the evening 
and early morning. In severe winters, also, when they leave the mountains, and in large 
herds descend to the warmer prairies along the coast, they are tracked in the snow to their 
lairs, and shot. Many frequent these j^rairies every winter, returning in early spring to the 
mountains. In some places the Indians formerly surrounded the herds, and by gradiially 
narrowing their circle, succeeded in killing many. It is almost useless to hunt them in the 
forest, where the dense underbrush gives them every advantage over their pursuer. 
An intelligent farmer, who formerly hunted elk in New York State, told me that he con- 
sidered these a different animal, being much larger, and having larger and differently formed 
horns. 
CERVUS COLUMBIANUS, Rich. 
Black-tailed Deer. 
Cervus macrotis, var. coliimbianus, Richardson, F. B. Am. I, 1829, 255 ; pi. xx. 
Cervus columbiaiius, Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 659. 
Sp. Ch. — About the size of C. virginianus, or less. Horns doubly dichotomous, the forks nearly equal. Ears more than 
half the length of the tail. Gland of the hind leg about one-sixth of the distance between the articulating surfaces of the 
bone. Tail cylindrical, hairy and white beneath ; almost entirely black above. The under portion of the tip not black. 
Winter coat with distinct yellowish chestnut annulation on a dark ground. Without white patch on the buttocks. There 
is a distinct dusky horse-shoe mark on the forehead anterior to the eyes. 
I have only seen one species of deer in the Territory, and this only west of the Cascade 
range. It is not abundant, except in a few places, the most remarkable of which is Whitby's 
island, at the Straits of De Fuca, where extensive and luxuriant prairies support large numbers 
of them, now, however, becoming scarce under the continual slaughter kept up at all seasons 
by the settlers. 
While there, in March, 1855, I saw a great many frequently in open daylight, but more 
commonly at dusk. The fact observed by Lewis and Clark, that when started they always go 
away by a succession of jumps, with all four feet striking the ground at once, I have often 
noticed, but have also seen them trot very leisurely away when they perceived the hunter at 
some distance off. A mottled, and sometimes entirely white variety, is not uncommon on this 
island and on the coast. I preserved a perfect specimen of this deer. 
Dimensions. — Nose to tip of tail, 5 feet 8 inches; tail, 11 inches; height at shoulder^ 
3 feet. Male : Iris dark brown, horns budding. 
