. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. rves is only a question of a fewyears; for everywhere, save in the Yellowstone Park, it isbeing destroyed very much faster than it breeds. The Mule Deer nearly always produces two fawns at abirth, and sometimes three. In feeding it is much given tobrowsing on twigs and foliage, but it also grazes freely whengood grass is available. In the Snow Creek country of cen-tral Montana I found that its October bill of fare consistedalmost solely of the long-leaved mug wort {Artemisia to-mentosa), a
. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. rves is only a question of a fewyears; for everywhere, save in the Yellowstone Park, it isbeing destroyed very much faster than it breeds. The Mule Deer nearly always produces two fawns at abirth, and sometimes three. In feeding it is much given tobrowsing on twigs and foliage, but it also grazes freely whengood grass is available. In the Snow Creek country of cen-tral Montana I found that its October bill of fare consistedalmost solely of the long-leaved mug wort {Artemisia to-mentosa), a species of very pungent and spicy sage, which waseaten greedily to the complete exclusion of the finest grassesI ever saw in the West. In running, this deer often advances by a series of stift*-legged leaps, in which it touches the ground lightly with its 76 HOOFED ANIMALS hoofs, bounds upward as if propelled by steel springs, andflies forward for an astonishing distance. In Manitoba anda few other localities this remarkable gait has caused thisanimal to be called the Jumping Deer. Owing to the fact. Copyright, 1900, N. Y. Zoological Society. MULE DEER WITH ANTLERS IN THE VELVET. that it lives in a dry climate and rarefied atmosphere, andsubsists on very dry foods, it is difficult to acclimatize it any-where outside of its own home. East of the Mississippi mostMule Deer die of gastro-enteritis. This species has not beensuccessfully acclimatized anywhere east of the Great Plains. THE BLACK-TAILED DEER 77 The Columbian Black-Tailed Deer,i of the Pacificcoast, is smaller than the typical white-tailed deer and verymuch smaller than the mule deer. The outer surface of itstail is black all over, and constitutes the best distinguishingcharacteristic of the species. The antlers are very those of old bucks exhibit the double Y on eachbeam which is so characteristic of the mule deer; but in mostcases the double bifurcation is wanting, and the antlers lookvery much
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