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270 FAUNA AMERICANA. 



the winter season, particularly on the posterior 

 parts of the body. The spinous processes of the 

 anterior dorsal vertebrae measure from one foot 

 and a half to two feet in length ; the diameter of 

 the bodies of the vertebrae being two inches. 



Habit. The American Bison or Buffalo inhabit 

 the great prairies west of the Mississippi; they 

 often unite in immense troops, supposed in some 

 instances to amount to 10,000. During the rutting 

 season, about the middle of June, the males en- 

 gage in mortal combats, disputing for the females ; 

 generally speaking, they are rather timid, but 

 when wounded, or during the rutting season, they 

 become very fierce. 



Inhabit the temperate parts of North America; 

 they were observed in the two Carolinas soon 

 after the arrival of the first colonists. They have 

 long since been exterminated from Pennsylvania, 

 and are not known to exist at present east of the 

 Mississippi river; they were observed in a savage 

 state in Kentucky so late as the year 1766, but 

 have gradually retired before the white settlers, 

 and appear to have concentrated in the plains of 

 Missouri. 



For a particular account of the geographical 

 distribution of this animal, Vid. Major Long's 

 Expedition to the sources of the St. Peter's 

 River, &c. 



