Chapter L: THE RAZORBILL OR AUK (Alca torda) 100 (1)

THE LION

(_Felis leo_)

The lion, undoubtedly, owes his title of “king of beasts” to the flowing mane with which his head and fore-quarters are adorned, as this confers upon him a dignity and grandeur of appearance entirely lacking in his maneless partner. Without his mane it is, indeed, more than questionable whether a lion would not be outclassed in style by a tiger. As it is, however, the lion, at all events so far as appearance goes, has an undisputed claim to his royal title; the magnificent mien of his draped head and shoulders, his bold, imperious eye, the powerful build of his lithe body, and his resounding roar of defiance, presenting the very ideal of supreme strength and sovereignty.

The tawny coat, which varies in tint from greyish or yellowish brown to yellow, is evidently intended to harmonise with the dry grasses and the yellow sand of the semi-desert tracts which form the favourite haunts of the lion; and this is confirmed by the fact that the newborn cubs are mottled with dark brown, thus indicating their descent from a species with a mottled or spotted coat adapted to a different environment. Indeed, Somali lions frequently retain traces of these spots, more especially in the female; and in German East Africa there exists a race of the lion in which both sexes are more or less fully and distinctly spotted.

In popular estimation the lion is inseparably connected with Africa, where it formerly ranged from one end of the continent to the other, although it has long since disappeared from most parts of Tunis and Algeria, as well as from Cape Colony. As a matter of fact, _Felis leo_ is as much an Asiatic as an African animal; while in the time of Xenophon it was probably found so far west as Thrace and Macedonia. Earlier still, that is to say in prehistoric times, its range included the greater part of temperate Europe, not excepting the British Isles. Unlike the tiger, however, the lion never inhabited the countries to the east of the Bay of Bengal, nor penetrated to the swamps of Lower Bengal itself, which are unsuited to its habits. Even so late as the Mutiny, lions were to be met with over a considerable tract in central India; although they are nowadays restricted to that district of Kathiawar, known as the Gir, where they survive only by protection. In the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris, as well as in parts of Persia, lions are still to be met with; but how numerous they are in these countries is difficult to ascertain.

In Africa lions appear to be most abundant in the British, German, and Portuguese eastern provinces, in some districts of which they seem bolder and more prone to attack human beings than in many other parts of the continent. In Somaliland, where they are smaller and greyer than usual, their number has been greatly reduced of late years. The handsomest lions of all are those with dark brown or black manes; but in some parts of the country, at all events, black-maned lions do not form a distinct race, as dark and light maned cubs may be found in the same litter.

Although the skulls of the two species present considerable differences, a lioness, apart from the absence of stripes, is not unlike a tiger in general appearance; and it has long been a question whether the lion or the tiger is the more powerful animal, although the balance of opinion seems to be in favour of the tiger’s claim to superiority in this respect. Certain it is, that the lion is much the more noisy animal of the two; a tiger never roaring in the persistent manner characteristic of the lion. The impression caused by the lion’s roar appears to depend greatly on the idiosyncrasy of the listener and the circumstances under which it is heard. Very noteworthy is the fact that the roar of the two species is essentially similar in character.

As a rule, lions, when too feeble to capture more active prey, turn into regular man-eaters much less frequently than tigers; but this may be in part explained by the bolder nature of many African tribes, as compared with the natives of a large extent of India; and when a lion makes himself obnoxious, such tribes have no hesitation in attacking and destroying the marauder.

Lions in Africa subsist, to a great extent, on the flesh of antelopes and zebras, or bontequaggas; generally stalking their game in parties of two or three, but one alone making the fatal spring. When stalking, a lion stretches out its body to the fullest extent, and crawls so close to the ground that even in low grass its presence is generally undetected till too late. Occasionally a party of lions combine their forces to pull down a large animal like a buffalo. Zebras can defend themselves only by kicking, but the gemsbok and the sable antelope will pin a lion with their horns, and sometimes come off victorious.

It has been very generally stated that lions are mainly, if not exclusively, monogamous, and that they mate for life. It has, however, been pointed out by Mr. Roosevelt that if this were really the case, they would almost always be found in pairs, that is to say, a lion and a lioness together. That they are thus found not infrequently may, indeed, be freely admitted; but, on the other hand, it is much commoner to come across a lioness and her cubs, an old lion with several lionesses and their young, a single lion or lioness, a couple of lions and lionesses, or, lastly, a small troop, which may be composed either solely of males or females, or of a mixture of the two sexes. “These facts,” writes the great American hunter, “are not compatible with the romantic theory in question.”

The cubs, generally two or three in number, come into the world, unlike kittens, with their eyes open, and are then about one-third the size of a cat. As already mentioned, they are heavily mottled with brown on a tawny ground, and it is very significant that these markings are to a great extent intermediate in character between the rosettes of leopards and jaguars and the stripes of the tiger. A peculiar feature in which the cubs of lions differ from those of leopards and jaguars, and thereby resemble those of tigers, is the presence of a white spot near the summit of the back of each ear. From these facts it has been inferred, in the first place, that the lion is most nearly related to the tiger, and, in the second place, that lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars are all members of a single group. As regards the mutual relationships of these species, it is generally believed that spots represent an earlier and more primitive type of colouring than transverse stripes, and it is therefore inferred that the stripes of the tiger, which are very frequently partially split or double, have been derived from the fusion of leopard-like rosettes into transverse chains. As the self-coloured coat of the adult lion is evidently a modern feature, it seems clear that tigers and lions are to be regarded as the most specialised members of the whole group.

Before the investigations which led up to these modern advanced views had been undertaken, it was very generally believed, on account of its self-coloured tawny coat, that the American puma--locally known as the American lion--was one of the nearest relatives of _Felis leo_. If, however, beauty be but skin deep, colour is an even less deeply seated feature among animals; and, as the result of the study of the markings of young cubs of the puma, it seems certain that this species has acquired its uniform tawny livery quite independently of the lion. For newly born puma cubs exhibit a pattern of quadrangular blackish markings totally different in form and arrangement from those of young lions, tigers, leopards, or jaguars, and approximating in some degree to those of the smaller cats. Accordingly, in the opinion of the investigator to whom we are indebted for these very interesting views with regard to the inter-relationships of the various members of the feline tribe, it seems highly probable that the puma may be an overgrown self-coloured representative of the group of smaller cats typified by the ordinary domesticated species and its wild relatives.

A remarkable feature connected with the tuft at the tip of the tail of the lion is the frequent presence of a horny spur or claw, the function of which is still unknown, although it is certain that it is not employed, as was once thought to be the case, to goad the animal into fury when the tail is lashed against the flanks. It has been asserted that this spur is found only in the Indian lion; but this is as erroneous as the statement made by the same writer that it represents the last joint of the vertebræ of the tail to which the blood is unable to obtain access. A very similar structure exists in one member of the kangaroo tribe, known as the spur-tailed wallaby, in which, however, the spur is common to both sexes and quite constant in its development.

Menagerie lions, it may be mentioned, generally display a greater luxuriance and profusion of mane than their wild relatives; while it is in the former alone that any marked development of long hair on the under surface of the body is noticeable. The reason for this is, of course, too obvious to require explanation, more especially when it is borne in mind that lions inhabiting open plains with grass-jungle have larger manes than those which have to get their living in a country overgrown with thorn-bushes.

THE MANCHURIAN TIGER

(_Felis tigris mongolica_)

The tiger is, and apparently always has been, an essentially Asiatic animal, although it enters south-eastern Europe in the Caucasus, whence its range extends eastwards through Persia, Afghanistan, and India, to Java and Sumatra, while northward it is found through China and Mongolia to Korea and Amurland. Very noteworthy is its absence from Ceylon, which seems to indicate that its original home was central Asia, and that it is a comparatively recent immigrant into southern Asia.

Four local races of the tiger are recognised by naturalists, namely, the typical Indian tiger, the Persian tiger (_F. tigris virgata_), the Javan tiger (_F. t. sondaica_), and the Manchurian or Siberian tiger (_F. t. mongolica_ or _longipilis_). As regards splendour of coat, the finest of these races is the Manchurian tiger, which differs from the Indian race by the great length and woolliness of its winter coat and the larger extent of white on the face, under-parts, and the inner side of the limbs. It also appears to be a more stoutly built animal, and attains a very large size. Its skin commands a very high price. From both these races the Persian tiger, which is probably the one found in the Caucasus, differs by the copious fringe of long hair on the cheeks, throat, and under-parts; while it is also of inferior bodily size. The Javan and Sumatran tiger, which may be the same as the one inhabiting the Malay countries, differs from all the other three by the light areas on the head, body and limbs being of small extent, ill-defined, and dirty or buffish white in colour instead of pure white. In size it is always relatively small, and appears to be the smallest of all. The degree of development of the dark stripes appears to vary individually; but the Persian race seems to be the most fully striped of all, and shows in perfection the characteristic looping, or splitting of the stripes.

The striped coat of the tiger seems designed to break up the outline of the body, and thus to render the animal as inconspicuous as possible. That it is not, as was once thought, a special adaptation to match the surroundings of the animal in the jungles of Bengal, will be evident from what is stated above as to the distribution of the tiger and its comparatively recent entry into India.

Information is still required with regard to the habits of the Manchurian tiger, which has only of recent years been hunted by European sportsmen, or exhibited alive in zoological gardens. It appears, however, that these northern tigers prey on almost all the animals of their native country, from the largest to the smallest. In summer they will overpower and kill such fierce animals as bears, while in times of scarcity during the long winter they may be driven to prey on mice and rats. To capture their victims they frequently resort to the drinking-places of the latter, and in summer they likewise pay constant visits to the salt-pans where the wapiti and other deer come to lick the salt.

Each pair of tigers generally frequents the same lair, which in mountainous districts is concealed amid rocks, while in the plains the requisite shelter is afforded by reed-brakes. In winter the tigers may be completely snowed up in their retreats. As in India, the tigress is reported to separate herself from the tiger a short time before giving birth to her young; these being born in some dense thicket or rocky cleft, their number varying from two to four. At birth they are about the same size as lion-cubs, but are marked in the same fashion as their parents, although clothed in more woolly coats. In India it is generally stated that the female keeps apart from the male while the cubs are young, although both parents have been seen with their offspring. Like lions, tigers associate for the greater part of the year in pairs, and are strictly monogamous.

Whether old tigers in Siberia turn man-eaters, after the fashion of their brethren in India, does not appear to be known; but in much of their range it is probable that they do not resort to this mode of livelihood, on account of the sparseness of the population. It appears, however, that throughout northern China and Siberia the natives regard the tiger with much the same superstitious awe as do the natives of Hindustan. All the Siberian natives consider the tiger as a being of high nature, although the Tunguses look upon it as an evil spirit which has come under the influence of the Shamans, or sorcerers.

Fossil bones from the New Siberian Islands indicate that the Manchurian tiger once ranged beyond the Arctic Circle.

THE SEAL

(_Phoca vitulina_)

Of all mammals except whales, dolphins, and sea-cows, the true seals, of which the common British species is the typical representative, are those which have become most completely adapted to an aquatic existence. This is shown by the spindle-shaped form of the body, the total absence of external ears, the conversion of the fore-limbs into flippers, and the backward direction of the hind pair, which are also flipper-like, and lie parallel to the short tail to form an efficient rudder-like organ.

Seals are evidently descended from land Carnivora, and possibly from that long extinct group the Creodontia. When fully developed, their cheek-teeth consist of a single middle cusp, flanked by a smaller one in front and behind; and there are no teeth specially corresponding with the scissor-like pair characteristic of the modern land Carnivora. This fact, unless the teeth are degenerate, is all in favour of the direct descent of seals from creodonts.

From the true seals of the family _Phocidæ_ the eared seals, or _Otariidæ_, differ by retaining small external ears, as well as by the fact that the hind-flippers are not permanently turned backwards; this latter feature being also distinctive of the walrus (_Odobænidæ_). In addition to being the most specialised of the aquatic Carnivora, the true seals are also the most widely distributed, inhabiting nearly all seas, and being likewise found in the Caspian Sea and in Lakes Aral and Baikal. Although seals go on land nightly to sleep, and likewise spend a considerable amount of time in the day on the shore or on ice, while the females give birth to their young on land, none of the _Phocidæ_ regularly leave the water for a period of several weeks during the breeding-season, after the fashion of their eared cousins. Neither do any of them yield commercial sealskin, which is a product of certain members of the eared groups. Commercially, they are therefore valued only for their hides and oil, for the sake of which vast numbers are annually slaughtered.

Seals are adepts in swimming and diving, and have the power of closing their nostrils and the apertures of their ears while under water, although they are unable to remain beneath the surface for anything like so long as whales and dolphins. The food of the common seal, as well as most other kinds, consists chiefly of fishes, for capturing and holding which their sharply cusped teeth are admirably adapted. Graceful and active as are their movements in water, on land they are comparatively awkward and ungainly; progression being effected by means of the limbs, accompanied by sudden flexures of the body, so that it in some degree partakes of the nature of hopping. To land, seals shoot themselves out of the water by a strong and sudden movement of the hind-limbs. When once on land, they may remain there for days and even weeks together, till compelled by hunger to return to the sea.

The senses of the seal are highly developed. The eye, for instance, is full and globular, and thus specially adapted to catch every ray of light when the animal is in the water. It is noteworthy that seals can shed tears under the influence of excitement, and especially when in pain. And the idea of the ancients that these animals are attracted by music and singing appears to be founded on fact.

Their usual cry is a sharp bark, but when angered they give vent to dog-like snarlings. Seals always associate in parties, which may comprise hundreds of individuals. The young, which are beautiful little creatures, are tenderly and affectionately nurtured by their parents, who protect them from danger by every means in their power.

Young seals have a coat quite different from that of the adult; this baby coat in the case of the second British species, the grey seal (_Halichærus grypus_), being wholly white. In colour, the common seal varies greatly, the coat being sometimes yellowish and sometimes light grey with blackish mottlings and marblings. The so-called grey seal is generally much darker in colour, but is best distinguished from the common species by its greatly superior size and its relatively larger and blunter teeth.

All seals are polygamous, which leads to fights among the males for the possession of the females; but in other respects they are gentle and affectionate, easily tamed if taken young, and displaying great capacity for education. As a rule, only a single cub is produced at a birth, but there may be twins.

THE ELK

(_Alces machlis_)

Although the elk can claim an easy superiority in the matter of size over all the other members of the deer tribe, it certainly cannot be accorded a high position in the scale of beauty. For, truth to say, it is an ugly and ungainly creature, with disproportionately long legs, and huge head terminating in a broad, flabby, and almost trunk-like muzzle. By the sportsman, however, it is held in high estimation, owing to the magnificent trophies formed by its great spreading antlers, which in Alaskan specimens may have a span of as much as six feet. And when the build of the elk is considered in relation to its mode of life, we see that what appears ugly and ungainly to our eyes is merely adaptation to a particular mode of life. For in summer the elk spends much of its time wading belly-deep in marshes and lakes in search of the water-plants which form a large proportion of its food at this season; and in this pursuit its long limbs must obviously be of the greatest advantage, while the broad and mobile muzzle is specially well adapted for gathering in the floating leaves and stalks. Possibly the almost wholly hairy extremity of the muzzle is another adaptation to the same end. The elk typifies the wading type among mammals just as much as does the flamingo among birds.

Like many other mammals of northern Europe, the elk has a circumpolar distribution, although most Transatlantic naturalists regard its American representatives in the light of a distinct species rather than as local races.

In common with the brown bear, the elk attains its maximum stature in Alaska, where it towers to a height of close on seven feet at the shoulder. At one time an inhabitant of the British Isles, the elk is still found in many parts of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and is abundant in Scandinavia; from these countries its range extends eastward through Poland and Russia, and thence across the whole of Siberia. On the other side of Bering Strait it reappears in Alaska, whence it ranges through British Columbia to Maine and other parts of the United States. The differences between the elk (or moose, as it is there called) of the United States and the typical elk of Scandinavia are so slight that it requires an expert to distinguish between the two.

It is, however, very noteworthy that certain Scandinavian elk never develop the huge expansions, or “shovels,” which form the most characteristic feature of the antlers of the species, but carry only five simple tines; and in east Siberia this simpler type of antler seems to be very prevalent.

A peculiar feature of the bull elk is the curious hairy appendage hanging from the throat, known to hunters as the “bell.”

Elk are polygamous, like the majority of the deer tribe; and in the breeding season the two sexes learn each others’ whereabouts by means of a loud “call” or bellowing, which in some districts, at any rate, appears to be uttered by males and females alike. The call can easily be imitated with the aid of a horn or trumpet, and by this means many a fine old bull is lured to his destruction. Elk are adepts in concealing themselves in the thickets to which they resort during the daytime.

In winter, when they are compelled to subsist on bark and twigs, especially those of the birch, these giant deer experience very hard times; and in North America a bull and two or three cows often form what is called a “yard” in the forest, by constantly trampling down the snow over a certain area, and thus keeping themselves from being snowed up. The female gives birth to one or two calves at a time, which are even more ungainly-looking than their parents.

It should be added, that in America the term “elk” is misapplied to the wapiti, while in Ceylon it is bestowed on the sambar deer.

THE CAPERCAILLIE

(_Tetrao urogallus_)

For the greater part of the year capercaillie, the largest representative of the grouse family, passes its time concealed in the depths of the forests, where it manages to find sufficient food even in the most severe winters; and it is only for a short period in spring that it makes its appearance, during the breeding-season, in the open. Its home is in the great forests of continental Europe and northern Asia, more especially those in which fir and pines predominate; abundant under-wood, which affords a good supply of berries, open glades, patches of sand, and pure water are, however, essential to the well-being of this magnificent bird. The capercaillie, or auerhahn as it is called in Austria and Germany, ranged in former days from the British Islands to the north-eastern portion of Turkestan, the Altai Mountains, and Lake Baikal; but by the middle of the seventeenth century it had already become scarce in Britain, where it became extinct a century later. In recent years the bird has, however, been reintroduced into Perthshire, Forfarshire, and a few other Scottish counties. In the Urals, north-eastern Siberia, and Kamchatka the typical capercaillie is represented by nearly allied species, or races. In Scandinavia the auerhahn ranges as far north as latitude 70°, but gradually becomes smaller and scarcer as the pine-woods tend to disappear; and it is the vast pine-forests of central Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Poland that form the great centre of its habitat.

Although its large size constitutes a sufficient means of recognising the cock capercaillie, which measures as much as thirty-five inches in length, from all other kinds of grouse, the species is distinguishable from its near relative, the blackcock, by the evenly rounded tail; while the blackish head and neck, with a patch of bare vermilion skin above each eye, the pale horn-colour of the beak, the green band across the breast, and the slaty brown back form other unmistakable characteristics. The female presents somewhat more resemblance to an overgrown greyhen (the female of the blackcock), but here again the rounded tail and superior size constitute decisive points of difference; while the general colour is more distinctly chestnut. Additional peculiarities of the hen capercaillie are to be found in the presence of a rufous patch at the base of the neck, and in the white tips to the black greater wing-coverts. In length the hen measures about 10 inches less than her partner; while her weight is only from 5 to 6 lb., against from 13 to 16 or 17 lb. in the cock.

The food of the cock capercaillie consists principally of the leaves and young shoots of the Scotch pine; and during the breeding-season these appear to form its sole nutriment. At other times he also consumes the leaves of deciduous trees, together with cranberries, whortleberries, juniper-berries, and grass, and sometimes a few insects or worms. On the other hand, the hens, which spend much more time on the ground than the cocks, and the young feed largely upon ants and other insects, worms, etc.; this being especially the case with the young birds.

The capercaillie is a polygamous bird, and in the spring--sometimes while the snow is still thick on the ground--each cock takes up a position on a tall pine, and commences his nuptial performance or _spel_, as it is called in Norway. This _spel_ usually lasts from early dawn to sunrise, and is repeated from sunset till dark; but the time varies somewhat according to the state of the weather and the temperature. During this amatory performance the cock stretches out his neck, raises and spreads out his wings like a fan, ruffles his feathers, and assumes an appearance which has been compared to that of an angry turkey. A call, which has been expressed by the words _peller, peller, peller_, is uttered with continually increasing rapidity, and concludes with a gulp and an indrawing of the breath, when the bird throws up his head, closes his eyes, and appears to be in a paroxysm of passion.

At the sound of the cock’s call all the hens in the neighbourhood rush to the place, uttering cries somewhat like the croak of a raven; and when they have assembled on the ground below the cock descends from his perch to join the party.

In Scotland, capercaillie-shooting takes place from 10th August till 20th December; but in some parts of the Continent, as in Poland, for instance, the calling-season is the time for this sport, which is so highly esteemed, that in Hungary and Poland a tablet is fixed in the shooting-lodges to commemorate the death of each bird.

THE SQUIRREL

(_Sciurus vulgaris_)

Of all the smaller animals inhabiting the forests of Great Britain and the Continent, none is better known, more graceful in its actions, or more charming in its appearance than the squirrel, the typical representative of a vast family of rodents, second in number only to the members of the mouse tribe, and having an almost cosmopolitan distribution, although unknown in Australia. The European species, like the great majority of its immediate relatives, is completely arboreal in its habits, and frequents for choice dry and shady forests where there is abundance of tall trees. Its range includes practically the whole of Europe and a considerable portion of northern Asia; but, as might be expected, there is considerable local variation in the matter of colour in different parts of this extensive area, and the British squirrel differs markedly from the typical Swedish representative of the species. There are, moreover, especially in the British race, seasonal changes of colour, which render its appearance very different.

During the winter months the British squirrel (_Sciurus vulgaris leucurus_) is a foxy coloured rodent, with long tufts of hair to the summits of the ears and the tail practically the same colour as the body. In the spring the long winter coat of the head and body is exchanged for a shorter summer dress and the ears lose their tufts; but the hairs of the tail are not changed, and consequently become dirty white, owing to the bleaching effect of light on their colour. This dirty white or cream-coloured tint of the tail in summer is absolutely characteristic of the British squirrel; and it may be added that even in winter this appendage is much less red than in many continental squirrels, being in fact reddish brown.

In the typical squirrel (_S. v. typicus_), of southern Norway and Sweden, the body in summer has a brownish red coat very similar to that of the British race; but the tail is red, and does not bleach when the hairs are old and worn. In winter the body-coat is soft greyish brown in colour, with traces of the summer tint along the middle line of the back and on the limbs. We now come to the subject of our illustration, which shows the German race of the squirrel (_S. v. rutilans_) in its winter coat. In this variety the colour is bright red at all seasons, although there is a tinge of light smoky grey along the flanks in winter; the tail being at all seasons bright rufous, often rather darker than the body. There is, however, a brown phase of this race; and all continental squirrels exhibit a more or less marked tendency towards individual melanism.

Omitting mention of several other red or reddish races of the species met with in various parts of the Continent, reference may be made to the Grecian squirrel (_S. v. lilæus_), in which the tendency to blackness is general if not universal; the general colour being brown, passing into blackish on the hind half of the back and the outer sides of the limbs. This, however, by no means exhausts the colour range of this extremely variable species, for in northern Russia and Siberia we find squirrels (_S. v. argenteus_ and _S. v. sibiricus_) in which the general colour of the winter coat is light French grey, with the long ear-tufts black. It is these grey squirrels which are used in such numbers to form the linings of ladies’ cheap cloaks; but perfect skins, to say nothing of the living animal, are scarcely ever seen in England.

For the reception of their young, squirrels build a well-constructed nest, or “drey,” which is oval in shape, and made of fibres and leaves with a lining of moss; its usual position being the fork of a large tree or a hole in the trunk. The fibres are neatly and intricately interwoven; and when the nest is placed in a fork, the entrance is usually made to open near to one of the branches, with the colour of which it agrees very closely. In this comfortable home the female brings forth three or four young, usually in June, which are tended by both parents, with whom they remain till the following year.

Although squirrels are stated to make an occasional meal of birds’ eggs, they are in the main strict vegetarians, feeding chiefly upon pine-cones, nuts, beech-mast, bark, buds, and young shoots. Where they are unusually numerous, as in certain parts of Scotland, they are stated to inflict considerable damage on young larch-plantations. When feeding, squirrels sit up and grasp the food in their fore-paws, with which they hold nuts while these are pierced by the chisel-like front teeth. Long flying leaps from tree to tree are frequently taken by these active rodents.

THE ROE-DEER

(_Capreolus caprea_)

The roe-deer, or roebuck, as it is commonly called, is the smallest European representative of the deer family, or _Cervidæ_, and belongs to a small group confined to Europe and northern Asia. So far as external characters are concerned, roe-deer differ from more typical _Cervidæ_, such as the red deer and the fallow deer, by the simpler structure of the relatively small antlers of the bucks, which rise nearly vertically from the head, and carry only three points; the basal, or brow, tines of the red deer being absent. As a distinctive character, common to both sexes, may be mentioned the absence of a tail.

The summer and winter dresses of the species, as in so many of the deer of the temperate zone, are strikingly different; the summer coat being bright foxy red, while in winter the general colour of the fur is olive-brown. At the latter season, at any rate, there is a conspicuous white patch on the rump, which serves as a guide to the hinder members of a family or party when fleeing from danger. The beautiful fawns are marked with a comparatively small number of longitudinal rows of white or yellowish spots and streaks upon a rufous ground; this indicating that the roe is descended from deer of which the adults were similarly spotted in summer. The black moustache-mark on the muzzle, and the white tip to the chin, are other features of these elegant little deer.

The bucks attain their full development in the third year, when the antlers, which commence as simple spikes, first acquire their third tines. Adult bucks usually shed their antlers about Christmas, and the new ones, which increase in size, although not in complexity till the sixth year, are in most cases fully developed by the end of February. The fawns, of which there may be either one, two, or three at a birth, usually make their appearance in the world in May, at any rate in the British Isles.

The favourite haunts of roe-deer are woods and forests on the plains, where under-wood is abundant, from which they issue forth at evening to graze in meadows and corn-lands. On the Continent these deer are, however, also found in forests on the lower mountains, as well as on the spurs of the higher ranges. As a rule, they associate for the greater part of the year in small family parties; such parties, according to continental writers, usually consisting of a buck with two or three does and their fawns, although it has been stated that roe are strictly monogamous. When put up in covert, they generally start off at a gallop with enormous flying leaps, but their speed is not great. They are also excellent swimmers, and can likewise climb rocks to a certain extent. Their food comprises grass, herbs, berries, and the young shoots of bushes and trees; ivy-leaves, where they are to be obtained, forming a favourite article of diet.

The range of the roebuck extends from the British Isles to Spain and Italy in the south and to southern Scandinavia in the north, while eastwards it stretches across Poland and the south of Russia at least as far as the Caucasus. In the Altai and certain other parts of Siberia it is, however, replaced by a much larger, paler-coloured species with more thickly haired ears, commonly known as the Siberian roe (_Capreolus pygargus_), of which a local race inhabits the Tian Shan range. Still farther east, in Manchuria and Mongolia, we come upon a smaller and redder species, the Manchurian roebuck (_C. manchuricus_, or _bedfordi_), which is more like the European roe, the red coat being exchanged for one of olive-brown or grey in winter.

In former days roebuck were doubtless distributed all over Great Britain; but by the middle of the eighteenth century they appear to have been killed off everywhere, except in the highlands of Scotland. Later on, with the increase of game-preservation, they have reasserted themselves, and spread over the lowlands of southern Scotland, as well as parts of the north of England. In North Wales they were reintroduced into Vaynol Park in 1874; and they have likewise been turned down in the Blackmoor Vale of Dorsetshire, where they are now once more wild.

In height, a good roebuck will stand fully 26 inches at the shoulder; while in weight he will turn the scale at 60 lb., if in first-rate condition. On the Continent these deer are generally hunted by means of beating the woods, where the guns are stationed along the tracks by which the roe pass to their feeding-grounds. Roe-venison, which is in best condition during winter, is generally regarded as inferior to that of either the red or the fallow deer.

THE REINDEER

(_Rangifer tarandus_)

The reindeer, the ren of the Swedes, is by far the most valuable member of the deer tribe, as it furnishes the Laps and many of the tribes of northern Asia not only with food, raiment, and leather, but likewise serves as a beast of draught and burden to transport them and their food across the inhospitable regions which form their home. Reindeer are likewise in all probability the most numerous in individuals of any of the _Cervidæ_, occurring in vast herds on the high _fjells_ of Scandinavia, while in many parts of North America, where they are known as caribou, they are met with in countless thousands, if not indeed in millions.

But it is not only in these two respects that reindeer are worthy of special notice, for they are the only members of the deer tribe in which antlers are carried by both sexes, those of the females being, however, considerably smaller than those of the males; while they are further remarkable for the early period of life at which these appendages make their first appearance. Then, again, the antlers, as is well shown in the illustration, are quite unlike those of any other deer; generally having the two pairs of front tines more or less branched and unsymmetrical, while the main beam sweeps backwards and then forwards in a bold curve, frequently giving off a single back-tine at the middle of the arch, and always carrying a number of tines on the hind edge of the upper portion.

Reindeer have a circumpolar distribution, except that they are naturally absent from Alaska; and in the former respect therefore agree with elk, although their range extends much farther north, and is proportionately curtailed in the south.

In all respects these deer are admirably adapted to a climate of intense severity and a life for months at a time amid snow and ice. Their coats are of great thickness and density, the hairs growing so close together as to produce a structure recalling much elongated velvet-pile. In the stags the throat is further protected by a fringe or ruff of long hair; and in both sexes the main pair of hoofs is very large and deeply cleft, so as to afford as big a surface as possible to prevent sinking deeply in the snow, while further support is afforded by the unusually large size of the small supplemental pair of hoofs. With these powerful hoofs, reindeer in winter scrape away the snow to uncover the reindeer-moss (_Cladonia rangiferina_), which at this season forms their main or only food-supply. In summer, however, they eat grass and herbage, as well as the buds and young shoots of dwarf birch.

The typical representative of the species is the Scandinavian reindeer, the one represented in the illustration, which occurs in both the wild and the domesticated condition. It is a comparatively small animal, with relatively short limbs, and the antlers rounded, and not displaying, as a rule, any very excessive development in the width of one of the lower pair of front tines. In Siberia other and larger, but still imperfectly known, races occur; while in Arctic America the species is represented by two very distinct types, more or less connected by a number of intermediate races.

The recently described Finnish race of the reindeer (_Rangifer tarandus fennicus_), now nearly extinct, is a larger animal than its Swedish representative.

Of the two chief American types, the most northern is the so-called Barren-ground reindeer or caribou (_R. t. arcticus_), in which the antlers are rounded and of great length, with the basal front tines far removed from those of the terminal extremity; while the woodland reindeer (_R. t. caribu_), on the other hand, has the antlers short, flattened, and with the tines crowded together, very large, and often much branched. In some of these American reindeer one of the lower pair of front tines often attains an enormous width, or depth, and is much branched.

There is likewise great racial variation in the matter of colour among American reindeer, the lightest being the Newfoundland _R. t. novæ-terræ_, while the darkest is _R. t. osborni_ of the Cascade Mountains, in which the greater part of the body is chocolate, or even blackish brown.

Reindeer, alike in the Old World and in America, are accustomed to undertake long seasonal migrations in search of food, travelling southwards in autumn, and returning to the northern part of their range in summer. Moreover, in many districts they are compelled to retire in summer from the open plains to the shelter of mountain forests on account of the attacks of various insects, more especially the reindeer-fly. Here it may be mentioned that the latter insect is found in certain continental localities far south of the present range of the reindeer, where it has doubtless existed since the time when that animal had a wider distribution. In their migrations, several thousands of reindeer frequently collect in herds of from two hundred to three hundred head, which travel one after another in long lines, each led, it is reported, by an old cow, and the whole forming a very forest of antlers. They swim the widest rivers with ease.

THE DEFASSA WATERBUCK

(_Cobus defassa_)

To one of the handsomest of the larger South African antelopes the old Dutch colonists gave the name of wasserbok, the equivalent of the English waterbuck, on account of its partiality for the neighbourhood of water, although it has subsequently been discovered that several more or less nearly allied species are equally aquatic in their habits. This typical waterbuck, which is about the size of an average mule, and is known to naturalists by the name of _Cobus ellipsiprymnus_, is characterised by the iron-grey colour of the long coarse hair of the head and body, and the presence of a large elliptical white ring (whence the specific name _ellipsiprymnus_) on the buttocks. The tail is comparatively long, and terminates in a blackish tuft, while the lower portions of the legs are likewise blackish. The ears are large and rounded; and the bucks carry a handsome pair of sublyrate, light brown horns, ringed from the base nearly to the tip.

At first this was the only waterbuck known, but as the country was gradually opened up a second species was discovered, whose range is now known to extend from Angola and German East Africa to Abyssinia, Senegambia, and Nigeria. This is the defassa or sing-sing waterbuck--for it has different native names in different parts of its range--the _Cobus defassa_ of naturalists, and the subject of the accompanying coloured Plate. From the true or typical waterbuck it is distinguished by the redder (or in the case of one race blacker) colour of the coat, and the substitution of a comparatively small white patch for the large elliptical ring on the rump. There are several local races of this species, such as the typical defassa of Abyssinia and the sing-sing of West Africa, differing to a certain extent in colour; the most marked of these being the Angolan _C. defassa penricei_, which is blackish grey.

Waterbuck are very generally found in the neighbourhood of rivers and lakes, where they feed amid the swamps of reeds and papyrus, but are by no means restricted to such situations, and may indeed be met with in dry and rocky localities. Sometimes, like hartebeests, they will climb the white-ant hills in order to obtain a good view of their surroundings and see whether all is safe.

They are gregarious antelopes, usually associating in parties of from three to a score or more; and it is noteworthy that when on the move the troop is invariably led by an old cow, and never by a bull. When danger is declared, the whole herd makes off in a resounding gallop for the nearest water in hope of finding safety by swimming. The flesh of both species of waterbuck is coarse and pervaded by a strong and unpleasant taste, so that it is almost uneatable by Europeans.

In Uganda, where defassa waterbuck are still comparatively numerous, the calves, of which there is usually one at a birth, are born from about the middle of December to the latter part of February. The male calves do not develop their horns till they are about eight months old, by which time the animals are approximately half-grown. At all times shy and difficult to approach, waterbuck are specially wary when they have calves with them. Unlike so many antelopes and nearly all deer, when they take to flight at the approach of danger they scarcely ever turn round, after galloping a certain distance, to gaze at the intruder; and this absence of curiosity saves many of them their lives. The calves, if taken young, are easily tamed.

Waterbuck are the biggest members of a large genus, all the representatives of which are confined to Africa south of the Sahara; the smaller species being known as kobs. A well-known species is Buffon’s kob (_Cobus coba_), a nearly uniformly rufous antelope, with blackish fronts to the fore-legs, of the approximate size of a fallow deer, and inhabiting tropical Africa from the west coast to Uganda. Somewhat larger are the puku (_C. vardoni_) and the lechwi (_C. leche_), first discovered by Livingstone in the Zambesi district; both these being foxy-coloured antelopes, without black leg-markings. In the Lake Mweru district of Barotseland there exists another kind of lechwi in which the adult males become blackish brown. And much farther north, in the swamps of the White Nile and the Sobat, we meet with two other members of the genus, the white-eared kob (_C. leucotis_) and Mrs. Gray’s kob (_C. maria_), in which the old bucks are likewise nearly black, with the exception of the ears, certain portions of the head and throat, and the under-parts, which are white. These black kobs are highly specialised species; although less specialised than the sable antelope, in which the adults of both sexes are black.

THE HARE

(_Lepus europæus_)

For many years the true or brown hare was known scientifically as _Lepus timidus_, but as that name was originally bestowed by Linnæus on the blue hare of Sweden, it has been transferred to that species. Perhaps less confusion would have resulted had it been allowed to continue as the technical designation of the species with which it was so long associated.

No one, of course, can mistake a hare for any other animal, and therefore anything in the way of description would be superfluous. It is, however, important to point out the characters by which the brown, or English species, is distinguished from the blue hare, which is found in Scotland and Ireland.

The brown hare, then, is specially characterised by its relatively large size, its very long ears, which exceed the head in length, the presence of a distinct white streak above each eye, and of a rusty red area on the thigh and generally another on the flank; additional characteristics being the black upper surface of the tail and the black tips to the ears. The general colour of the thick soft fur is rufous tawny, mingled with black above and white beneath, the dark area extending, however, to the throat and chest; there is but little difference between the summer and the winter coat, although the latter is always somewhat the lighter. Length of limb, especially in respect of the hind pair, is a structural characteristic of the hare.

The range of the brown hare includes the whole of central Europe, and a small portion of western Asia; its northern limits in Europe being formed by the lowlands of Scotland, southern Sweden, and southern Russia, while in the south it extends to northern Italy, southern France, and Spain. Nine local races of the species are recognised, of which the British is known as _L. europæus occidentalis_.

Compared with the brown species, the blue or mountain hare, now known as _L. timidus_, is a smaller animal, with the ears, hind-legs, and tail shorter, the head smaller and more rounded, and the colour frequently bluish or brownish grey above in summer, without any rufous or brown on the flanks, but with black tips to the ears, and the under surface of the body white. The upper surface of the tail may be either dark or white; and as a rule the fur, with the exception of the black ear-tips, turns white in winter. The range of this species extends from Ireland and Sweden to the Alps, the Altai Mountains, the Caspian district, and Japan. It is represented by numerous races, of which three occur in the British Isles. Of these, the Irish hare (_L. timidus hibernicus_) has the ears shorter than the head, and the tail wholly white; the coat may turn white in severe winters. In the Scottish hare (_L. t. scoticus_), on the other hand, the ears are nearly as long as the head, the upper side of the tail is dusky in summer, and the whole coat, exclusive of the ear-tips, turns white in winter.

The brown hare is essentially an animal of the open country, and more especially bare fields and fallows, with which its colour harmonises in a wonderful degree. And there is abundant need for this protective resemblance, as the hare has a host of enemies, against whom it has constantly to be on guard, and from whom its sole hope of escape depends upon its limbs. All the three protective senses, hearing, sight, and smell, are highly developed; the long ears detecting every audible sound, while the full, large, round eyes, with widely distended pupils, catch the smallest rays of light at night, when the hare is most active. It has been stated, indeed, that the eyes remain open during sleep, as the eyelids cannot be completely closed; but this is incorrect.

Hares pass most of the day in a lair or “form,” which is a smooth place between tussocks of grass or other covert, but they may live out in the open. The females produce at least two litters during the year, the number of leverets in which usually varies from two to five, although it is stated there have been as many as eleven. The young are born quite active and with their eyes open; those which come into the world in spring being capable of breeding the same autumn. The mother remains with her offspring only for the first five or six days after their birth, and then leaves them to shift for themselves.

The young hares of each litter remain together till half-grown, when they disperse; in fifteen months they attain full size, and their average duration of life is seven or eight years. Owing to their long hind-legs hares run much better uphill than downhill.

THE POLAR BEAR

(_Ursus maritimus_)

Living amid eternal ice and snow, the polar bear, which is equalled in bodily size only by some of the huge brown bears of Alaska and Kamchatka, evidently owes its white, or in some instances pale cream-coloured, coat to its surroundings; this white livery, like that of the polar hare, being worn throughout the year. The species is always alluded to simply as the polar bear, although its full title should be the north polar bear; the Antarctic, so far as we know at present, having no land mammals.

In its native haunts the polar bear is found alike on the ice-bound coasts and islands, and on the ice-fields themselves, where it obtains much of its food, this being captured both on land and in the water. Indeed, this great carnivore is fully as much at home in the sea as on _terra firma_, and is capable of swimming long distances at a stretch.

In former days it is probable that the polar bear ranged considerably farther south than is the case at the present day, when it is but rarely seen even in the south of Greenland. The species, like Arctic animals generally, has a nearly circumpolar distribution, and has been divided into a number of local races. These are at present distinguished by skull-characters, but if a sufficient series of skins were available in museums for comparison, there would probably be found local differences in the colour, length, and character of the fur. Polar bear skins are, however, of great commercial value, so that no collection contains a large series of specimens. Moreover, the exact locality of most of the skins offered for sale by furriers is unknown.