po Oxen 



h. Woodland Race — Bos bison Athabasca 



Bison hison athahascce^ Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philcuii'lpliia^ •i^97i P- 49'^- 



Characters. — Distinguished h'oni the prairie race by its superior size, 

 thicker and more silky pehige, of which the colour is darker, and bv the 

 much longer, more slender, and more incurved horns, which are also more 

 widely separated from one another at the bases. 



The description of the type specimen, which is mounted in the 

 Geological Museum, Ottawa, Canada, and appears to have been killed near 

 the Great Slave Lake, is as follows. Pelage uniformly dense and silky ; 

 short and fine over much of the hinder half of the body, but becoming- 

 very dense, long, and curly anteriorly, especially on the shoulders and neck, 

 as well as the front of the head. Colour along the crest of the hump and 

 the middle line ot the back light brown, shading in every direction into 

 darker brown, and becoming almost black on the head, under-parts, and 

 limbs ; the ears, muzzle, and lower half of the tail, as well as the horns 

 and hoots being completely black. The horns long and strongly curved 

 inwards so as to come within a couple of inches of the line of tlie base 

 of the eyes. 



Distribution. — The wooded uplands of the western territories, formerly 

 extending from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the 95th 

 meridian of longitude, ami from latitude 6:; to 55' N., but probably 

 ranging as far south along the line of the Rocky Mountains as the United 

 States. 



Habits. — Hunters and trappers have long been convinced of the 

 distinctness of the bison of the wooded northern districts from the one 

 inhabiting the plains, but it is only recently that naturalists have ventured 

 to separate the two. From the accounts of several observers familiar with 

 it in former days quoted by Mr. Rhoads, it appears that the woodland 



