ZOOLOGY. 
135 
CERVUS MACROTIS, Say. 
Mule Deer. 
Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 656. 
Several experienced hunters have assured me that the mule deer has been killed by them on 
the eastern slope of the Cascade mountains, within the limits of Washington Territory.—S. 
CERVUS COLUMBIANUS, Rich. 
Black-tailed Deer. 
Cervus maerotis var. columbianus, Richardson, P. B. Am. I, 1829, 255; pi. xx, 
Cervus columbianus, Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 659. 
Cervus lewisii , Peale, Mammalia and Birds U. S. Ex. Ex. 1848, 39. 
Cervus richardsonii, Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad* II, 1851, 211.— Ib. Ill, 1853, 27 ; pi. cvi. 
Black-tailed fallow deer, Lewis & Clark. 
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 beneatli ; 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, 
Lewis and Clark includes this species among the three kinds of deer wbicb, they say, inhabit 
Oregon. The other two of these are the common red deer and the mule deer. 
The black-tailed deer I found the most common kind on the Klamath mountains and in 
Shasta valley. The Klamath mountains sustain a mixed and rather open forest of pine, oak, 
and other trees, both evergreen and deciduous. The black-tail, though much larger than the 
red deer, is inferior for the table, the meat being generally dry and of indifferent flavor. 
I have seen it stated that a characteristic of the black-tailed species is, that the horns 
bifurcate equally , each of the double prongs having points. This is certainly not universal; for, 
although I have seen horns forked in that manner, I have seen more that were single. — G-. 
Note.— As a general rule it may be observed, that American Oregon is not a hunting 
country, especially that portion of it west of the Bitter Root and Blue mountains. What few 
fur-bearing animals there were once are now again increasing, especially the beaver. The 
Indians, however, are greatly diminished in numbers, and, moreover, hunt much less than 
formerly. With their natural improvidence they have, on the other hand, destroyed the deer 
in certain districts, as, for example, that on the eastern slope of the Cascade mountains. 
The possession of fire-arms has been, in many respects, an injury to the savages, leading 
them to the wanton slaughter and destruction of the deer during heavy snows.—G-. 
The black-tailed deer is, by far, the most numerous species in the heavily-wooded districts 
west of the Cascade mountains. Its range, in all probability, extends from as far north as the 
northern limits of the dense forests of the coast to near San Francisco, in California, and, per¬ 
haps, still further south in the Sierra Nevada mountains. On Puget Sound, although appa¬ 
rently not the only species, it far exceeds any other kind in numbers. It frequents the dense 
forests of Douglas fir which there exist, and, unless hunted with dogs, is generally very difficult 
to obtain. During several years’ residence at Fort Steilacoom I had occasional opportunities 
of seeing this deer, either alive or dead. It has nearly the same habits as the red deer, and 
although, at times, fond of visiting the borders of prairies, or the weedy edges of ponds and 
lakes, its principal residence is in the sombre forests of the region. In winter they approach 
the coast or the vicinity of the salt water, probably having found, by experience, that the 
