36 Proceedings of the Newport Natural History Society. 
culate through them. When the antlers have attained their 
full size the bony rings at their base, through which the 
blood-vessels pass, begin to thicken, and eventually com¬ 
press these vessels, so that the “velvet” is deprived of its 
nourishment and the antlers cease to grow. The animal 
then removes the “velvet” by rubbing against trees or 
roots. The whole bony mass of the antlers, which, in a 
moose of six years of age or over, is of enormous size, 
attains its full growth in the short period of ten weeks, 
and the rapidity of this process is said to have no parallel 
in the whole animal kingdom. 
During the summer months and in early autumn the 
moose is a great traveller. If he is unmolested he proceeds 
slowly, sometimes in company with his cows, but often alone, 
making from eight to twelve miles daily, and gathering his 
food upon the way by browsing upon the young and tender 
leaves of the white maple, the birch, hornbeam, beach, 
cedar, ground-hemlock and other trees. When in company 
with his cows the bull leads the way, the herd following 
in single file, with their backs to the wind, but facing the 
wind when they stop to feed. Should danger threaten, the 
bull calls his cows together with his powerful voice and 
turns to face his enemy. At a second signal from him the 
cows retreat to a place of safety while he alone remains 
until all danger is past. A single moose, once alarmed, 
gets over the ground with remarkable speed and his endur¬ 
ance is such that only the hardiest of hunters can ever hope 
to overtake him. He does not proceed after the manner 
of the common deer, with long, graceful bounds, but in a 
swinging trot, crashing through the thickets and over fallen 
trees with a noise that may be heard for a long distance. 
Moose are very fond of the water, and generally take a 
daily bath, especially when persecuted by flies. 
In winter the moose form what are called “yards,” that 
is spaces in which some ten or twenty of them live together. 
These “yards” are selected with great care, usually upon 
some southern slope as a protection against northern winds, 
