296 
MAMMALIA. 
shut up in sheds, or left out of doors in an enclosure sufficiently 
high to shelter them from the attacks of wild beasts. These flocks 
need a great deal of supervision, as the Reindeer is somewhat 
inclined to return to its wild life if granted too much liberty. All 
the individuals composing these herds are marked with the brand 
of the proprietor, so that they may be recognised when they stray 
in the woods, or when the flocks get mixed. 
An unknown feeling induces the Wild Reindeer to unite in j 
vast herds, which migrate from one climate to another according 
to the seasons. In winter, they come down into the plains or 
valleys near the sea-coast, and there feed on the lichens which 
they excavate with their horns and feet from under the snow. 
In summer, they ascend the plateaux to graze on the buds and 
leaves of mountain shrubs. They are, moreover, induced to select 
these elevated situations in the warm season to lessen the attacks j 
of the Horse and Gad-flies, which otherwise would incessantly 
prey upon them. The latter insects, at the time when these 
quadrupeds change their coat, deposit their eggs on the surface 
of the skin ; the larvae, after they are hatched, penetrate under 
the epidermis, causing acute pain. 
Hunting Reindeer is actively prosecuted in every country where 
they exist. The time of their migration, in the spring and autumn, 
is the period when the greatest havoc in their ranks are made. 
For, through ignorance, stupidity, or fear, they precipitate them- 
selves en masse into passes, where they succumb in vast numbers to 
the blows of those who are lying in wait for them. As there are 
always numerous streams to be crossed in their route, and as when 
immersed in the water they are more completely at Man’s mercy, 
such situations are frequently selected by the hunter. Sometimes 
the slaughter made on such occasions is immense. The autumn 
hunting is always more productive than that of the spring ; in the 
first place, these animals then are much fatter than they are after 
enduring the severity of winter; and, in the next place, the j 
water- courses, which are then completely thawed, afford greater 
advantage to the pursuers. 
Extreme cold is a necessary of existence to the Reindeer. : 
When this animal is conveyed into warm, or only temperate 
climates, it soon dies, and never reproduces ; the menagerie of 
the Museum of Natural History in Paris, and the Zoological 
