MULE DEER. 
211 
published the animals obtained in the expedition, he very properly added 
such other species as had been collected by the labours of Douglass, Drum. 
MOND and other naturalists, who had explored the northern and western 
portions of America. Finding in the Zoological Museum a specimen of 
black-tailed Deer, procured on the western coast of America, by Douglass> 
he concluded that it was the species described by Say, C. macrotis ; at 
the close of his article, he refers to the animal mentioned by Lewis and 
Clarke, as the black-tailed Deer of the western coast, of which he states, 
that he had seen no specimen, designating it (F.B. Am. p. 257) C. macrotis, 
var. Columbiana. We have, however, come to the conclusion that the 
animal described by Richardson was the very western species to which 
Lewis and Clarke refer, and that whilst his description of the specimen 
was correct, he erred in the name, he having described not the Mule Deer 
of Lewis and Clark and Say, but the Columbian black-tailed Deer, our 
drawing of which was made from the identical specimen described and 
figured by Richardson. We have named it, after its first describer, Cervus 
Richardsonii. 
The followdng characters will serve to designate the species. 
C. Richardsonii, considerably smaller than C. macrotis, the male of the 
former species being smaller than the female of the latter. The hair of 
C. macrotis is very coarse and spongy, like that of the elk, that of C. 
Richardsonii is much finer and more resembles that of the Virginian Deer. 
The C. Richardsonii has no glandular opening on the outer surface of the 
hind leg below the knee joint, approaching in this particular the antelopes 
which are also without such openings, whilst the corresponding portion in 
C. macrotis is longer than that of any known species of Deer, being six inch- 
es in length. They differ in the shape of their horns, the C. macrotis having 
the antlers more slender, much less knobbed, and less covered with sharp 
points than those of the latter. They are also destitute of the basal pro- 
cess, so conspicuous in C. macrotis. We regret exceedingly that from cir- 
cumstances beyond our control, we have been enabled to give a figure 
of the female only of C. macrotis, and of the male only of C. Richardsonii. 
The former was figured from the specimen we obtained at Fort LTiiion, 
and for the latter we are indebted to the directors of the Zool. Society of 
London, who very kindly permitted us to make a drawing from the spe- 
cimen previously described and figured by Richardson. 
Note. — In connection with this subject, we are deeply p.iined to be compelled to notice 
the obstructions thrown in the w^ay of our pursuits by the directors of the National Institute 
.at W.ashington, which city we visited shortly after the return of our exploring e.xpeditiou, 
when we were kindly invited by Mr. Peale to an ex.amination of the v.alu!ible specimens of 
Natural History, collected by our .adventurous countrymen. We pointed out to him one 
or two .skins of the black-tailed Deer from the Western coast, which w'e both agreed differed 
.o: 
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