IO 
MAMMALIA. 
When the first warm winds of approaching spring uncover here 
and there in the beaver meadows small spots and narrow strips of 
ground between the snowdrifts, the new marsh grass is found al- 
ready sprouted, and its tender blades afford the Deer a tempting 
change from the dry twigs and tough lichens that constitute its win- 
ter fare.* 
From this time until the latter part of September much of their 
sustenance is procured in the immediate vicinage of water. After 
the snow has left the forests and the new vegetation has fairly start- 
ed, they gradually work back into the woods, but return again in 
early June to feed upon marsh plants and grasses, and wade or even 
swim to procure the lily-pads and other aquatic plants that thrive 
in the shallow water near by. During June, July, and August hun- 
dreds of Deer visit the water-courses of this Wilderness every night, 
and retire at break of day to the deep recesses of the forest. 
It has been stated that they do this to rid themselves of black flies 
and mosquitoes, but a little reflection will suffice to show the absurd- 
ity of this assertion. For nowhere in the entire Wilderness are these 
insect pests so abundant and annoying as on the marshes and in the 
immediate neighborhood of lakes and streams. And since it is rare 
to find a Deer above his thighs in water, the fallacy of this supposi- 
tion is apparent. The fact is, that, for the sake of obtaining the 
plants that grow in such situations, they submit to the annoyance of 
swarms of insects most of which they would escape did they remain 
amid the mountain fastnesses. It is true, however, that Deer, par- 
ticularly at the South, do sometimes enter water when not in search 
of food, and sink to such a depth that little save the nostrils and eyes 
remain in sight; but whether this is done for the riddance of insects, 
* I was particularly struck with this fact on the 29th April, 1882, while crossing from Big 
Moose Lake to Lake Terror, in company with Dr. F. It. Hoaclley. Here, along the banks of a 
sluggish stream which was still bordered with ice eight to ten inches in thickness, we observed fresh 
green grass already over an inch and ahalf high in small bare spots between snowdrifts two and three 
feet in depth. The same day we saw a Deer standing on a mass of ice. and snow on the shore of 
Lake Terror, doubtless in search of food. 
